Social Media Affinity and Eating Habits

Bomediano, Krimson Y.
Panday, Kristel Jane

Bachelor of Physical Education III
Article Title: “The Influence of Social Media Affinity on Eating Attitudes and Body
Dissatisfaction in Philippine Adolescents”
Published Online: January 31, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4094/chnr.2020.26.1.121
1. Search and analyze the abstract of your assigned research article.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to examine the influence of social media affinity on eating attitudes and body
dissatisfaction among adolescents in the Philippines.
Methods
The participants were 114 junior high school students enrolled in 7th to 10th grade in Cavite Province,
Philippines. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS, using descriptive statistics, the independent t-
test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple linear
regression.
Results
The factors affecting eating attitudes were body dissatisfaction (β=-.47, p<.001), social media affinity
(β=.33, p<.001) and grade (10th grade) (β=-.28, p<.001), and the factors influencing body dissatisfaction
were eating attitudes (β=-.65, p<.001) and social media affinity (β=.17, p=.041).
Conclusion
In order to promote healthy eating attitudes and to improve body satisfaction among Philippine
adolescents, educational strategies tailored to social media users will be needed.
Our Analysis
Many of the youth of today’s awareness of the world and its intricacies are borne of time spent,
whether productively or otherwise, within social media. It (social media) has greatly shaped their way of
thinking, influenced their identities, their behavior and personalities. Some are even driven to extreme
courses of action just to find validation from strangers within the confines of this technological world.
Thus, this research focuses on the influence of social media towards the perception of the adolescents
of what an ideal body for their age is, what they should eat and what they should change to be “in” or
“normal.”
The respondents were 7th – 10th graders – youth at their early teen stage where identity
searching and experimenting is at its peak. This would be the stage where these adolescents can be
easily influenced and cave in to peer pressure, notwithstanding advice or lack thereof at home.
Based on the results, body dissatisfaction and affinity to social media as well as the grade level
were factors relevant to changes in eating attitudes. Body dissatisfaction is also attributed to eating
attitudes of the respondents and their social media affinity as well. These findings show just how deeply
social media affects the lives of these adolescents: from their perception of an acceptable body to what
can be considered as “normal” eating habits. An unhealthy diet and/or eating habit is a significant
health-threatening risk factor, especially for adolescents, who are in a period of rapid physical growth.
Considering social media’s level of influence, the researchers then expressed the necessity of tailor-
fitting educational strategies for these juvenile social media users. This shows the potential of social
media to be a channel for body positivity and healthy eating among the youth, if used properly and with
adequate intervention.
2. Critique or make an analysis of the research article assigned to you to find out whether the findings is
usable or useful for you and the community.
We believe that the findings in this research are both timely and practically useful for us as
individuals in this “new normal” setting where we are immersed in gadget use and have high usage of
social media applications. We also find these to be useful for the community as these findings are in part
reflective of what is also happening to the adolescents in our locale, what with the abundance of
unhealthy foods and eating trends, as well as reliance on social media use.
Since the level of usage of social media or the user’s affinity to it was shown to be related to the
eating attitudes and the perception of what an “ideal” body is for the adolescents and vice versa, our
respective communities need to conduct further researches to establish this and to proactively place
safeguards to moderate the use of social media, educate the youth on its proper use and to reinforce
factual information to avoid negative issues.

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Bomediano, Krimson Y.

Panday, Kristel Jane

1. Search and analyze the abstract of your assigned research article.

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