Social media and community engagement's impact on student health and activity

Introduction: This study presents one of the first attempts to systematically examine the influence of football media content and community on young students' healthy lifestyles and physical activity. Football media, as a unique phenomenon at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and social media, has significant, albeit ambiguous, potential to promote healthy lifestyles among young people. Objective: The study aims to assess the impact of participation in football media communities on students' physical activity and adherence to a healthy lifestyle. Methodology: Research methods include an online survey (n=500), in-depth interviews (n=20), content analysis of football media resources, and a case study (n=30). Results: Results show a moderate positive association between participation in football media communities and physical activity levels (r=0.56, p<0.01). Discussion: Offline activities have a greater influence on a healthy lifestyle than passive content consumption. Given that students view media-based football as entertainment rather than preparation for professional sports, the greatest barriers to increasing physical activity are lack of time (80%) and financial constraints (56.7%). Conclusions: The study concludes that the effectiveness of the proposed recommendations can be increased if media-based football influencers more actively promote content on healthy lifestyles.