A cross-sectional study to evaluate the relationship between emotional eating, social media use and body perception in young adults

Abstract

Objective: The increase in social media use in young adults may affect their eating behaviors. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the emotional eating status of young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the relationship between social media use, cognitive restraint and uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating behavior. Methods: In this study, a questionnaire containing 29 questions was applied to 201 individuals between the ages of 18-35, and their body mass index was calculated using height and body weight measurements. The questionnaire also includes Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult Form, Body Image Scale, Three-Factor Eating Scale and Emotional Eating Scale. Number, percentage values, Chi-square, One Way ANOVA independent samples T test and Regression analyzes were used to evaluate the data. Results: It was found that the probability of emotional eating was increased in women (OR, 8871; 95% CI, 3368-23.391) compared to men. Body mass index < 18.5 kg/m(2) (OR, 0.095; 95% CI, 0.016-0.542) and 18.5-24.9 kg/m(2) compared to individuals with a body mass index of 25.0-29.9 kg/m(2) (OR, 0.176; 95% CI, 0.047-0.654) was found to be less likely to emotional eating. It has been determined that 90.2% of individuals who are interested in nutrition shares on social media have emotional eating. It was determined that the social media addiction scale score, uncontrolled eating behavior score and cognitive restraint behavior score averages of individuals with emotional eating behavior were higher than individuals without emotional eating behavior. Conclusion: It has been determined that emotional eating is common in young adults during the pandemic. Emotional eating was found to be associated with social media use and body image.