Psychosocial effects of social media and nutrition information: an analysis of orthorexia nervosa and weight-related self-stigma in youth

The impact of social media on young people's body perception, eating behaviours and diet literacy has become an increasingly important public health issue. In this cross-sectional study, the interactions between social media addiction, e-healthy diet literacy, weight-related self-stigma and orthorexia nervosa were examined in depth The study was conducted between January and March 2025 with 651 young people at a state university in Turkey. Participants were administered a general information form, the e-Healthy Eating Literacy Scale, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the Orthorexia Nervosa Inventory, and the Weight Self-Stigma Scale. Participants' level of social media addiction was positively correlated with e-healthy eating literacy (r = 0.121, p = 0.002), total orthorexia nervosa score (r = 0.150, p < 0.001), and weight-related self-stigma (r = 0.229, p < 0.001). According to multiple regression analysis, weight self-stigma score (β = 0.385, p < 0.001) and e-healthy diet literacy score (β = 0.176, p < 0.001) were found to be significant predictors of orthorexia nervosa and explained 22.6% of the model variance (R²=0.226, F = 48.556, p < 0.001). On the other hand, social media addiction (β = 0.166, p < 0.001), orthorexia nervosa (β = 0.358, p < 0.001) and BMI (β = 0.257, p < 0.001) were significant variables predicting weight self-stigma and the model explained 28.6% of the variance (R²=0.286, F = 64.663, p < 0.001). In conclusion, it has been observed that young people's knowledge and experiences in the digital environment can influence their eating behaviour not only at the cognitive level but also at the psychosocial level, and the need for comprehensive interventions targeting body image, weight stigmatisation and digital media policies has been emphasised.