Body mass index and social media addiction as predictors of hedonic hunger in adolescents

This study was planned to determine the relationship between hedonic hunger, social media addiction and body mass index (BMI) in adolescents. The study was conducted with 720 adolescents receiving education in high schools. Data was collected online using the Children's Power of Food Scale (CPFS) and Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS). Mean, percentage, <i>t</i>-test, ANOVA and regression analysis were used to analyse data. In the study, it was found that social media addiction explained 16.4% of the variance in hedonic hunger and had a significant impact (<i>F</i> = 140.433, <i>p</i> ≤ 0.001). When the BMI variable was added to the model in the second step (Model II), it was determined that social media addiction and BMI significantly predicted CPFS scores (<i>F</i> = 81.839, <i>p</i> ≤ 0.001) and explained 18.6% of the variance. The study results revealed that social media addiction and BMI significantly predict hedonic hunger in adolescents.