Does Watching Mukbang and Cookbang Broadcasts Affect Subjective Body Image, Perceived Stress, and Physical Activity Levels among Korean Adolescents?

Background: We investigated whether physical activity, subjective body image, and perceived stress were linked to watching Mukbang and Cookbang broadcasts among Korean adolescents. Adolescents mainly watch Mukbang and Cookbang shows through media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. Methods: We examined data on 51,743 Korean adolescents who participated in the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2022. Data were evaluated using frequency, chi-square, and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Specifically, the relationship between watching Mukbang and Cookbang broadcasts and physical activity participation, subjective body image, and perceived stress was evaluated through a multivariate logistic regression analysis after adjusting for covariates such as sex, age, school type, and residential area. Results: The results showed that among Korean adolescents, watching Mukbang and Cookbang broadcasts was significantly related to the negative effects of feeling fatter and more stressed and the positive effect of greater participation in physical activities (possibly to combat feeling fat) (P<0.05). In other words, this study confirms that watching Mukbang and Cookbang broadcasts has the simultaneous effect of increased physical activity participation in conjunction with negative subjective body images.  Moreover, it increased perceived stress in adolescents. Conclusion: Adolescents must be better educated about Mukbang and Cookbang broadcasts and their negative impact on subjective body image and perceived stress (as well as their positive impact on physical activity). Such education can help prevent these shows from creating negative teenage habits that can continue into adulthood. These results can be used as basic data for health education and policies that warn about the potential negative effects of such programs.