The Influence of Social Media on The Eating Patterns of Young Women

Abstract

The primary goal of this research is to comprehend how social media affects young women in Aotearoa, New Zealand, regarding their body image and connections with food. Social media has transformed communication and the spread of information over the past 20 years. societal standards, cultural values, and media portrayals have shaped people's conceptions about food connections and body image. Social media's introduction has changed people's perceptions of food connections and body image, especially in the perspectives of young women. This perspective guided the semi-structured interview and collaborative intervention design approach. Participants in the study were young women aged 18 to 24 who lived in urban and suburban locations across Aotearoa New Zealand. Purposive sampling was utilized to recruit participants. The analysis reveals that the proliferation of edited, enhanced imagery across social media channels propagates unrealistic and highly scrutinized depictions of beauty that young female users then internalize as norms or expectations of feminine worth. Social media’s role in shaping food relationships reveals messaging plays an influential yet complex role in propagating disordered nutrition attitudes and guilt-tied consumption. Using Nvivo qualitative software analysis tools, the remaining transcripts were separated and coded independently. The findings highlight the need to consider how cultural contexts shape social media’s impact on young women’s body image and food relationships. Prevalent diet culture messaging permeates online spaces. However, failing to examine how cultural ties to food, health, and beauty differ across ethnic groups risks further marginalizing minority young women while potentially intensifying disordered eating patterns. This research suggests potential in utilizing social media’s capacity and outreach to increase awareness about the opposite negative effects that it has on young women’s body image and food relationships.