The Relationship Between Social Media Addiction, Food Preference and Eating Attitudes Among Young Adults

Aim: The increase in social media addiction following social media overuse can affect and change food preferences. This study aims to investigate social media’s effect on food preferences and eating attitudes. Subjects and Method: Three hundred participants aged between 18-65 years were included in the study. An online survey including body weight (kg), height (cm), social media-related questions, social media addiction scale adult form (SMAS-AF) and eating attitude test (EAT-26) was filled out by participants. Results: The participants’ mean age was 28.66 ± 11.16 years and majority of them were women. The mean EAT-26 score was 16.00 ± 8.15, with women having a higher score than men (p<0.05). There was a relationship between the EAT-26 and SMAS-AF (r: 0.227, p<0.01). The eating attitude and social media addiction increased the consumption of social media-related meals/foods. Impaired eating attitude and social media addiction were related to higher consumption of green tea, fresh green vegetable juice, detox water, milkshakes, oats, honey instead of sugar, chia/quinoa, granola, and smoothies. Conclusion: Social media addiction could affect eating attitudes. Consumption of foods seen on social media is associated with social media addiction and changes in eating attitudes. Overuse of social media can lead to impaired eating behaviors. Social media posts should be made by experts or it is important to get expert opinion on the content of posts.