Viewing social media may improve dietary habits among young people

Viewing Instagram accounts, which deal with healthy eating, increases the consumption of fruits and vegetables and reduces eating junk food – according to a study published in Science Daily which was recently conducted by researchers from the Department of Psychology at Aston University in the UK.52 young people (average age 22) participated in the study – each of them uses social networks, mainly Instagram. Within it, the participants were divided into two groups: the first was instructed to follow social media accounts that dealt with healthy eating and bloggers that uploaded recipes based on healthy food, and showed a high consumption of fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, the members of the control group were instructed to follow Instagram accounts, which mainly dealt with home design. During the experiment, which lasted about two weeks, the participants in both groups were asked to record in detail what they ate and drank during the study period.

 

The findings revealed that the participants of the experimental group, who followed postings of healthy eating on social media, added 1.4 servings of fruits and vegetables per day to their daily menu, and in contrast consumed 0.8 less foods with no nutritional value, such as high-calorie snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages.

 

The researchers’ conclusion was that there is a relationship between viewing social media accounts, which focused on healthy eating, and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and less junk food consumption.

This study joins previous studies, which showed that positive social norms regarding the consumption of fruits and vegetables and other foods that are considered healthy, increases their consumption. According to the authors of the study, the goal now is to check if the nutritional change made by everyone who switched to a healthy diet following viewing of dedicated posts on social networks, is a long-term change and if it is indeed possible to use social media for the purpose of instilling the values ​​of balanced and healthy eating.

The use of social media with the aim of improving dietary habits and causing an increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables and reducing empty foods is, apparently, effective. However, it is important to remember that unbalanced viewing of various posts on social networks may encourage excessive consumption of one food, vitamin or mineral at the expense of another. This may create a nutritional excess or deficiency, which may harm growth and development especially at young ages. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the diet contains all the main nutrients and that it combines at the same time a healthy lifestyle that includes: strict physical activity, sufficient hours of sleep, drinking water and more. It is also important to remember that social media is not a substitute for personal nutritional advice from a clinical dietitian.

The author is Inbal Katz Friedlander, director of the general nutrition and diet unit in the central district