Social Media’s Influence on Unhealthy Eating

Social media has become an integral part of many people’s lives especially as technology is constantly evolving. Increased exposure to unhealthy foods and diets on social media leads to people eating more unhealthy foods. Monique Potvin Kent of the University of Ottawa lead a research team to investigate the influence of social media posts on Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr and YouTube containing fast food restaurants and sweetened beverages. They gathered their data over the year 2020 and found that posts containing the brands “were mentioned 16,851,990 times, reaching an estimated 42,244,995,156 users”. The study did not determine the age of the users but found that more men were reached by the posts than women. Using this data, it is argued by the authors that social media is contributing to the obesity crisis and is normalizing the consumption of unhealthy foods, especially in younger people. 

 

Source: "The harmful frequency and reach of unhealthy foods on social media." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 October 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/10/241031151841.htm>.