The influence of Instagram food-related content on eating behaviour and the role of mindfulness and self-control

This thesis explores the influence of food-related content on Instagram on eating behaviour and food consumption. The study is motivated by the prevalence of social media and the increasing amount of food-related content, which can negatively impact users' eating practices. Research on influences on eating behaviour has been extensive and continues to evolve, especially with new factors emerging in modern society, such as the digitalisation era. The study employs the Food Well-Being model, a comprehensive framework for understanding eating behaviours, which has not yet been applied to online environments. Through diary methods, this research examines the effects of food socialisation, food marketing, and food literacy on eating behaviour within Instagram.
The key findings include:
The source and type of food content, as well as the emotions elicited by this content, significantly influence food consumption.
Different sources (e.g., friends vs. influencers) lead to different eating patterns; notably, while content from friends tends to lead to unhealthy eating, content from influencers is associated with healthier consumption.
Viewing unhealthy foods does not result in unhealthy eating, whereas viewing healthy food content is strongly correlated with healthier consumption.
The study also investigates the potential of mindfulness interventions to counteract the strong influences of social media on unhealthy eating patterns. The findings show a strong positive correlation between mindfulness and healthy consumption. However, further research is needed to determine whether all facets of mindfulness predict healthy eating, as this study identified only two significant predictors. Given the potential of mindfulness interventions, future campaigns should also aim to target larger-scale communities and groups to maximise the impact of these findings.