Impact of Social Media Influencers on the Dietary Choices of University Students in Relation to Obesity
Keywords:
Impact of social media, body image, influencers, Social media and obesity, Positive & Negative effects of social mediaAbstract
Background & Aims: Social Media is a tool which engages people in virtual groups, and networks to produce, share, and exchange information and ideas about anything. Social media has significantly influenced the dietary choices of people as they follow the diet promoted by social media influencers. The aim of this study was to determine the social media influencer’s impact on the dietary choices of university going students in relation to obesity. Methodology: The sample size of 60 was included in the study which were university students of NIU ranging from 18-30 years with an access to social media on dietary choices. This cross sectional study was conducted by self-structured questionnaire including weight history and BMI along with some additional questions related to social media usage and its effect on health. Results: Research participants answered about their weight history, BMI, impact of social media, influenced by social media influencers, diet and its impact on health. Conclusion: The study revealed that majority of the participants do not experienced a gain in their body weight after having the diet promoted by social media and its influencers. This shows that social media have positive impact on people health but it do have negative impact too which will leads to obesity.
References
Ahmad, S. A., & Bruno, D. E. (2021). Social Media Influencers and The Dietary Choices Among University Students. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 6(10), 543-557.
Al Ali, N. M., Alkhateeb, E. A., Jaradat, D., & Bashtawi, M. (2021). Social media use among university students in Jordan and its impact on their dietary habits and physical activity. Cogent Education, 8(1), 1993519.
Aljefree, N. M., & Alhothali, G. T. (2022). Exposure to Food Marketing via Social Media and Obesity among University Students in Saudi Arabia. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(10), 5851.
Alwafi, H., Alwafi, R., Naser, A. Y., Samannodi, M., Aboraya, D., Salawati, E., ... & Almatrafi, M. (2022). The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Food Consumption in Saudi Arabia, a Cross-Sectional Web-Based Survey. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 15, 2129-2139.
Ashraf, Muhammad, Wang Rui Yuan, Muhammad Raza, and Noureen Kanwal. "Effects of Social Media Apps on University Students’ Health Behaviour in Physical Activity, Weight Loss, and Nutrition Perspective." Review of Applied Management and Social Sciences 5, no. 2 (2022): 219-230
Baldwin, H. J., Freeman, B., & Kelly, B. (2018). Like and share: associations between social media engagement and dietary choices in children. Public health nutrition, 21(17), 3210-3215.
Carrotte, E. R., Vella, A. M., & Lim, M. S. (2015). Predictors of “liking” three types of health and fitness-related content on social media: a cross-sectional study. Journal of medical Internet research, 17(8), e4803.
Chau, M. M., Burgermaster, M., & Mamykina, L. (2018). The use of social media in nutrition interventions for adolescents and young adults—A systematic review. International journal of medical informatics, 120, 77-91.
De Jans, S., Hudders, L., Naderer, B., & De Pauw, V. (2022). Impact of Thin-Ideals in Influencer Posts Promoting Healthy vs. Unhealthy Foods on Tweens' Healthy Food Choice Behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 789069-789069.
Fadnes, L. T., Økland, J. M., Haaland, Ø. A., & Johansson, K. A. (2022). Estimating impact of food choices on life expectancy: A modeling study. PLoS medicine, 19(2), e1003889.
Filippone, L., Shankland, R., & Hallez, Q. (2022). The relationships between social media exposure, food craving, cognitive impulsivity and cognitive restraint. Journal of Eating Disorders, 10(1), 1-12.Fletcher, A., Bonell, C., & Sorhaindo, A. (2011). You are what your friends eat: systematic review of social network analyses of young people's eating behaviours and bodyweight. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 65(6), 548-555.
Hales, S. B., Davidson, C., & Turner-McGrievy, G. M. (2014). Varying social media post types differentially impacts engagement in a behavioral weight loss intervention. Translational behavioral medicine, 4(4), 355-362.
Haq, N., Khan, Z., Riaz, S., Nasim, A., Shahwani, R., & Tahir, M. (2017). Prevalence and knowledge of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) among female science students of different public Universities of Quetta, Pakistan. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 35(6), 385-92.
Hawkins, L. K., Farrow, C., & Thomas, J. M. (2020). Do perceived norms of social media users’ eating habits and preferences predict our own food consumption and BMI?. Appetite, 149, 104611.
Holmberg, C. (2016). If You can't beat It–Use It: why and how clinicians need to consider social media in the treatment of adolescents with obesity. European journal of clinical nutrition, 70(9), 977-978.
Khan, A. N., Khalid, S., Khan, H. I., & Jabeen, M. (2011). Impact of today's media on university student's body image in Pakistan: a conservative, developing country's perspective. BMC Public Health, 11(1), 1-8.
Klassen, K. M., Douglass, C. H., Brennan, L., Truby, H., & Lim, M. S. (2018). Social media use for nutrition outcomes in young adults: a mixed-methods systematic review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 15(1), 1-18.
Kucharczuk, A. J., Oliver, T. L., & Dowdell, E. B. (2022). Social media’s influence on adolescents′ food choices: A mixed studies systematic literature review. Appetite, 168, 105765.
Li, C., Ademiluyi, A., Ge, Y., & Park, A. (2022). Using Social Media to Understand Web-Based Social Factors Concerning Obesity: Systematic Review. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 8(3), e25552.
Li, J. S., Barnett, T. A., Goodman, E., Wasserman, R. C., & Kemper, A. R. (2013). Approaches to the prevention and management of childhood obesity: the role of social networks and the use of social media and related electronic technologies: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 127(2), 260-267.
Mansoori, N., Nisar, N., Shahid, N., Mubeen, S. M., & Ahsan, S. (2018). Prevalence of obesity and its risk factors among school children in Karachi, Pakistan. Tropical doctor, 48(4), 266-269
Modrzejewska, A., Czepczor-Bernat, K., Modrzejewska, J., Roszkowska, A., Zembura, M., & Matusik, P. (2022). # childhoodobesity-A brief literature review of the role of social media in body image shaping and eating patterns among children and adolescents. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 10, 993460-993460.
Neuhouser, M. L. (2019). The importance of healthy dietary patterns in chronic disease prevention. Nutrition Research, 70, 3-6.
Pearson, N., Griffiths, P., Biddle, S. J., Johnston, J. P., McGeorge, S., & Haycraft, E. (2017). Clustering and correlates of screen-time and eating behaviours among young adolescents. BMC Public Health, 17(1), 1-12.
Pilař, L., Stanislavská, L. K., Kvasnička, R., Hartman, R., & Tichá, I. (2021). Healthy food on Instagram social network: vegan, homemade and clean eating. Nutrients, 13(6), 1991.
Qutteina, Y., Hallez, L., Raedschelders, M., De Backer, C., & Smits, T. (2022). Food for teens: how social media is associated with adolescent eating outcomes. Public health nutrition, 25(2), 290-302.
Riehm, K. E., Feder, K. A., Tormohlen, K. N., Crum, R. M., Young, A. S., Green, K. M., ... & Mojtabai, R. (2019). Associations between time spent using social media and internalizing and externalizing problems among US youth. JAMA psychiatry, 76(12), 1266-1273.
Robinson, T. N., Banda, J. A., Hale, L., Lu, A. S., Fleming-Milici, F., Calvert, S. L., & Wartella, E. (2017). Screen media exposure and obesity in children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 140(Supplement_2), S97-S101.
Rounsefell, K., Gibson, S., McLean, S., Blair, M., Molenaar, A., Brennan, L., ... & McCaffrey, T. A. (2020). Social media, body image and food choices in healthy young adults: A mixed methods systematic review. Nutrition & Dietetics, 77(1), 19-40.
Sampasa-Kanyinga, H., Chaput, J. P., & Hamilton, H. A. (2015). Associations between the use of social networking sites and unhealthy eating behaviours and excess body weight in adolescents. British Journal of Nutrition, 114(11), 1941-1947.
Stein, J. P., Krause, E., & Ohler, P. (2021). Every (Insta) Gram counts? Applying cultivation theory to explore the effects of Instagram on young users’ body image. Psychology of Popular Media, 10(1), 87
Swindle, T. M., Ward, W. L., & Whiteside-Mansell, L. (2018). Facebook: the use of social media to engage parents in a preschool obesity prevention curriculum. Journal of nutrition education and behavior, 50(1), 4-10.
Tami, S. H. (2022). Perceived Effects of Socio-Economics and Social Media Variables on Body Mass Index in Saudi Young Adults. Cureus, 14(10)
Vaterlaus, J. M., Patten, E. V., Roche, C., & Young, J. A. (2015). # Gettinghealthy: The perceived influence of social media on young adult health behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 151-157.
Vermeulen, S. J., Park, T., Khoury, C. K., & Béné, C. (2020). Changing diets and the transformation of the global food system. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1478(1), 3–17.
Zhou, M., Rajamohan, S., Hedrick, V., Rincón-Gallardo Patiño, S., Abidi, F., Polys, N., & Kraak, V. (2019). Mapping the celebrity endorsement of branded food and beverage products and marketing campaigns in the United States, 1990–2017. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(19), 3743
