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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1474729
This article is part of the Research Topic Industry and Individuals: Branding, Labelling, and Marketing of Food Products View all 9 articles

The Healthy Eating Movement on Social Media and Its Psychological Effects on Body Image

Provisionally accepted
Alina Zaharia Alina Zaharia 1*Iulia Gonta Iulia Gonta 2
  • 1 Faculty of Psychology, Titu Maiorescu University, Bucharest, Romania
  • 2 National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA, Bucharest, Department of Training for Teaching Career and Socio-Human Sciences, Bucharest, Romania

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The present study aims to investigate the relationship between social-media pressure, the tendency to internalize standards of beauty and attractiveness associated with thin bodies, which subsequently leads to distortion of body shape perceptions, and restrictive and emotional eating behavior disorders. The group of participants consisted of 614 students, selected from the most prestigious universities in Bucharest. The results confirmed the hypotheses of the research, meaning food restrictions are a way to diminish the level of dissatisfaction with body shape, to reduce the difference between the ideal body shape and the real one. Food restrictions are perceived as natural behaviors, appropriate to support the standards of beauty and attractiveness specific to this historical stage. Emotional eating disorders emerge as a way to compensate for the discomfort generated by low body esteem.

    Keywords: social media pressure, body image, Emotional eating behavior, Thin body, beauty standards, Thinspiration, fitspiration

    Received: 02 Aug 2024; Accepted: 02 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zaharia and Gonta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alina Zaharia, Faculty of Psychology, Titu Maiorescu University, Bucharest, Romania

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.