Vol. 8, Issue 8, Part I (2024)

A study on the influence of social media on the dietary choices of college students

Author(s):

Annu Aheer, Vishakha Singh and Sumitra Meena

Abstract:
Social media is now a vital part of contemporary society, having revolutionized communication, information sharing, and interactions with the outside world. Among all the effects it has, eating habits are a significant influencing factor. Nutritional information, the rise of social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat has had a big impact on people's eating preferences and habits, particularly among college students. The survey was conducted among 200 undergraduate students from two universities, MPUAT (Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology) and MLSU (Mohanlal Sukhadia University). The study included a total of 200 respondents, of which 50 percent were girls and 50 percent were boys. Through the use of a questionnaire, information of socio-demographic, social media use and food preferences was gathered. In this study, the questionnaire was filled by collecting data as per the convenience of time with the help of interview schedule of girls and boys of colleges of MPUAT and MLSU, Udaipur, Rajasthan. Based on the results, the majority of the students (50%) belonged to the 18–21 age groups. For both boys and girls, the mean BMI was 21.168±2.045 and 20.163±3.213 kg m2, respectively. There were no significant differences between boys and girls, but social media use significantly influenced the dietary choices of both boys and girls. The average score of the respondents were 2.55±0.67 for boys and 2.70±0.56 for girls. Out of the total respondents, 75 percent girls and 65 percent boys were influenced by social media regarding their food choices and eating habits. Girls were more influenced than boys regarding food choices through social media.

Pages: 698-703  |  1471 Views  1088 Downloads

How to cite this article:
Annu Aheer, Vishakha Singh and Sumitra Meena. A study on the influence of social media on the dietary choices of college students. Int. J. Adv. Biochem. Res. 2024;8(8):698-703. DOI: 10.33545/26174693.2024.v8.i8i.1829