In an experiment with 129 women, researchers discovered that foodie Instagram content lifted mood while clean eating posts failed to do so and hinted at subtle risks for body satisfaction.
Study: Food and mood: how clean eating content on social media influences affect and body satisfaction in women. Image credit: 9919/Shutterstock.com
A recent study in Frontiers in Psychology compared the impact of social media content on clean eating vs eating-related control content (foodie) on its effect, body satisfaction, and food choices in a behavioral task.
Social media eating content and its effect
Spending more time on social media has been associated with lower body satisfaction and disordered eating among users. Instagram, a popular picture-based social media outlet, is used by more than 28% of global internet users. Recently, researchers have started to assess the impact of food- and eating-related social media posts on individuals’ perceptions of their bodies and eating behaviors.
Social media users share eating-related content by posting nutritional tips, food photography, and eating videos. A previous study presented an association between viewing eating-related content and eating disorder symptoms, and negative body image.
Clean eating (CE) is an eating-related trend with thousands of Instagram posts containing the hashtags #healthyfood and #healthylifestyle. Although there is no universal definition of CE, it is commonly described as an eating behavior characterized by a higher intake of non-processed foods. The concept of CE aligns with avoiding food considered “bad” (e.g., refined sugar and alcohol) and encouraging “good” (e.g., fruits and vegetables) with a strict diet.
Although the concept of CE could initially benefit health, restricting the variety and quantity of food may lead to disordered eating and promote a negative body image. Social media content has been found to trigger body dissatisfaction and appearance-ideal internalization, particularly among females between 18 and 30 years of age. Women between 17 and 55 years of age, who followed CE recommendations, were more likely to develop restrictive eating behavior, commonly in the form of orthorexia nervosa.
In addition to CE, food content has also increased on Instagram, showcasing what people eat and cook, and often uses hashtags such as #foodporn. Not many studies have investigated the impact of consuming food-related content on body satisfaction and mood. Considering the high volume of social media content related to food, it is essential to understand how it affects an individual's mood, body satisfaction, and behavior.
About the study
The current randomized study employed a 2 × 2 design (profile: clean eating vs. foodie; between-subjects factor) × 2 (time: pre-post; within-subjects factor). It assessed the impact of exposure to CE and foodie content on Instagram. The current study hypothesized that viewing CE Instagram profiles would enhance negative affect (NA) and decrease positive affect (PA) and body satisfaction, compared to viewing control content; that CE would lead to healthier snack choices; and that participants with higher baseline vulnerabilities (eating disorder or orthorexia symptoms, body dissatisfaction) would react more strongly.
Female students from the University of Konstanz, primarily from the psychology department, were enrolled to evaluate PA and NA before and after exposure to content from two profiles: CE and control (foodie content) created on Instagram for this study. Each Instagram profile contained 16 posts and was comparable in terms of interaction and number of followers. These accounts were not accessible outside the study.
Any participant with substance dependence, the presence of severe depressive symptoms, a BMI lower than 17 or higher than 30, or those with suicidal tendency were excluded. Eligible participants completed a pre-questionnaire and were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions. After viewing the profile, participants were asked to complete the post-questionnaire. Subsequently, they were asked to select a snack from various foods.
Orthorexic behavior was assessed using the Düsseldorf Orthorexia Scale (DOS), while the Body Image States Scale (BISS) was used to determine an individual’s self-evaluation of their physical appearance. These trait measures were used as moderators, not as outcomes.
Study findings
A total of 129 women (CE-64 and Control-65) fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Participants of both groups were of similar age, body mass index (BMI), eating disorder symptoms, orthorexia symptoms, or general psychopathology. The CE and control groups exhibited similar hunger ratings and time since their last meal.
No significant PA on profile exposure was observed. However, a significant effect of time was observed, with a reduction in PA from before to after exposure across the group. A significant interaction of time × profile was found regarding NA. A significant reduction in NA was observed from pre- to post-measurement when participants viewed the control profile. However, no significant changes were noted in participants after viewing the CE profile. This suggests foodie content may have a protective effect on mood, whereas CE content maintained negative affect.
A higher BISS score indicates lower body satisfaction. Interestingly, an interaction effect between profile and time was observed, but simple tests showed no clear changes within either group. Thus, while no significant body satisfaction changes were confirmed, there was tentative evidence that CE exposure may contribute to lower body satisfaction. Notably, this effect appeared even though no bodies were shown in the posts, suggesting that “healthy lifestyle” food content alone may influence body image.
In the CE group, only 20.31% of the participants selected a healthy food, while the majority chose a high-calorie snack, with two participants declining any snack. Similarly, only 25% of the participants from the foodie group selected a healthy food, while the majority chose high-calorie snacks.
Regression analyses showed that pre-existing vulnerabilities (orthorexia symptoms, eating disorder symptoms, or body dissatisfaction) did not predict stronger reactions to CE content, contrary to the hypothesis.
Conclusions
The current study highlighted the short-term effects of one-time consumption of CE content on social media. Neither CE nor control profile exposure impacted food choice, and body satisfaction effects were inconclusive but showed tentative signals of harm for CE. However, it is not conclusive whether social media content increases the risk of eating disorders or orthorexia symptoms.
Importantly, foodie content reduced negative affect, suggesting that food-enjoyment-focused posts have a protective effect on mood compared to health-restrictive content. Future research must systematically validate this study's findings, especially with longer exposure times and more diverse samples.
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