Impact of Social Media on Fast Food Consumption and Increased Bad Nutritional Habits: Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Researchers now have unprecedented access to low-latency data at affordable prices thanks to social media's widespread acceptance and continuous use. Given how often food is discussed and uploaded on social media, nutrition research may find this to be of special interest. Objectives: To summarize current published evidence on the impact of social media on fast food consumption and increased bad nutritional habits. Methods: PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Science Direct were systematically searched for relevant literature. Rayyan QRCI was employed throughout this comprehensive process. Results & Interpretation: We included six studies with a total of 10988 participants, and 5899 (53.7%) were females. The reported rate of using social media ranged from 72.9% [15] to 95.9% [17]. The average daily usage of social media and the choices and behaviours related to fast food were found to be strongly correlated. The activity that most negatively impacted children's eating habits was watching food videos. Due to the previously identified connections between conventional forms of food marketing and children's eating habits, food marketing is controlled or prohibited in the majority of Western nations. In general, social media has a negative impact on people's relationship with food and how they view their bodies.