Influence of Social Media Use on the Eating Behavior and Food Preferences of Undergraduate Students in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Abstract

This research evaluated the influence of social media use on the eating behaviors and foodpreferences of undergraduate students in the University of Nigeria. Four objectives and twohypotheses guided the study. A descriptive and correlational research designs was adoptedfor the study for a population of 39,295 students. Multi-stage sampling technique was usedto select a sample of 368 students. Data was collected using structured questionnairesvalidated by three experts. Data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean,standard deviation, and chi-square. The result revealed that the majority (73.1%) of therespondents make occasional use of social media applications with WhatsApp (96.2%),YouTube (84.8%), Gmail (83.7%), Facebook (78.5%) and Instagram (72.8%) being used bymany of the students. The less common applications were Skype (10.6%), Tumblr (14.1%),and Reddit (14.7%) among others. The respondents’ eating behaviours showed that morethan a third (35.1%) of them were emotional under eaters and those with hungry eatingbehaviour were 26.6%. A greater proportion (26.6%) of the students preferred snacks, 26.1%preferred dairy, 25.8% preferred fruits and very few (3.0%) preferred vegetables. Findingsfurther showed that the frequency of social media use was not significantly associated withthe eating behaviours and food preferences of the students. The study recommended thatthe University authority should provide nutrition education that will foster a healthiercampus environment.