Instagram Exposure may Sway Kids to Eat More Calories

Kids who watch social media influencers promote unhealthy food are more likely to adopt bad diets. The new study highlights the negative influence that social media like Instagram has on children's food intake.

New study highlights the negative influence that social media has on children's food intake. Photo sharing platforms showcase unhealthy snack images that make kids inclined towards consumption of more calories, giving rise to many health issues like obesity. The findings of the study are published in the journal Pediatrics.

Making children eat healthy food can test the patience of parents. The exposure of children to social media platforms such as photo-sharing app Instagram could make the job even tougher for them, suggests a new study.

Impact of Social Media on Children's Food Intake
New research published in Pediatrics highlights the negative influence that social media has on children's food intake.

‘Marketing of unhealthy foods, through vloggers' Instagram pages, increases kids consumption of calories.’
Read More..

The findings published in the journal Pediatrics showed that children who view unhealthy snack images on social media platforms are likely to consume more calories from unhealthy snacks.

"The results are supported by celebrity endorsement data, which show unhealthy food endorsements increase children's unhealthy food intake, but healthy food endorsements have little or no effect on healthy food intake," said researcher Anna Coate from the University of Liverpool in Britain.

The study was conducted with the aim of examining the effect of social media marketing of snack foods (healthy and unhealthy), via vloggers' Instagram pages, on children's snack intake.

How Can Parents Assist Teenagers In The Use Of Social Media?
Dr. Bhavana Arora, Medical Director of Children's Hospital, Los Angeles offers advice on how to manage social media use among teenagers.

During the study 176 children, aged between 9 and 11 years, were randomly split into three equal groups and were shown artificially created, but realistic, Instagram pages of popular vloggers (each has millions of followers).

One group was shown images of the vlogger with unhealthy snacks, and the second group was shown images of the vlogger with healthy snacks and the third group was shown images of the vlogger with non-food products.

Negative Encounters In Social Media Might Be Making You Feel Lonely
Likelihood of feeling lonely is increasing as people are encountering negative experiences on social media, finds a new study.

The participants' subsequent intake of snacks (healthy and unhealthy options) were measured.

Children in the group that viewed the unhealthy snack images consumed 32 percent more calories from unhealthy snacks specifically and 26 percent more calories in total from healthy and unhealthy snacks compared with children who saw the non-food images, the findings showed.

Narcissism Observed in Social Media Selfie-Addicts
People who are in the excessive usage of social media by posting selfies and images of them are at a higher risk of developing narcissism.

The results suggest that the marketing of unhealthy foods, via vloggers' Instagram pages, increases children's immediate energy intake.

"Young people trust vloggers more than celebrities so their endorsements may be even more impactful and exploitative," Coates said.

"Tighter restrictions are needed around the digital marketing of unhealthy foods that children are exposed to, and vloggers should not be permitted to promote unhealthy foods to vulnerable young people on social media," she added.

Source-IANS