Consuming my body weight in videos: The relationships between watching social media eating videos, body image and eating behaviour among Australian and Chinese individuals

Eating videos have become increasingly popular on social media. Research has shown that eating videos such as mukbang (eating broadcasts where hosts eat a large amount of food) may be linked to negative body image and disordered eating. However, little is known about other types of eating-related content (e.g., eating challenges). The aim of the current study was to: (1) investigate the relationship between watching a range of eating videos (e.g., mukbang, eating challenge), body image, and eating behaviours, and (2) examine the indirect effects of appearance comparison and thin-ideal internalisation. In addition, given the popularity of eating videos in certain Asian cultures, we compared differences between Australian and Chinese individuals. Participants (82.3% women; 257 Australian, 189 Chinese) aged 18-35 years completed an online cross-sectional questionnaire. Results showed that viewing content such as mukbang and eating challenges was positively associated with various body image and eating concerns (e.g., thin-ideal internalisation, food craving, bulimia). Both appearance comparison and internalisation of appearance ideals accounted for significant indirect effects in the relationships between watching certain eating videos, disordered eating and food craving. There were differences between Australian and Chinese individuals; for example, Chinese participants reported watching eating videos more frequently than Australian participants, while Australian participants displayed more body image and eating concerns. Further research is needed to understand the direction of the relationships examined and how individuals from different cultural backgrounds may be influenced by social media eating videos. There is also a need for interventions that target problematic eating videos.