Effect of emotional eating and social media on nutritional behavior and obesity in university students who were receiving distance education due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of emotional eating and social media on nutritional behavior and obesity in university students receiving distance education during the pandemic.

Subject and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed with 1000 undergraduate students who were receiving distance education due to COVID-19 in Türkiye. Data were collected using an online questionnaire that included demographic information, height, body weight, eating habits, the Scale of Effects of Social Media on Eating Behavior (SESMEB), and the Emotional Eating Scale (EES). A p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant for statistical tests.

Results: During the distance education period, more than half of both male and female students (61.7%; 58.2%) changed their meal pattern, 31.7% of them started to consume their main meals more regularly, and 31.2% of them began to skip their main meals. Of the participants, 52.6% spent more than 2 hours a day on social media. The female students who spend more than 2 hours a day on social media have higher SESMEB and EES scores than those who spend 2 hours or less a day (p < 0.01). The score SESMEB is positively weakly correlated with body mass index (BMI) (rho 0.132, p < 0.01) and positively moderately associated with the EES score (rho 0.334, p < 0.01). The interaction between the SESMEB and EES scores increases the risk of overweight/obesity (odds ratio (OR) 1.002, p = 0.009).

Conclusion: For the students who received distance education, social media affects eating behavior, BMI, and emotional eating. Additionally, these effects may increase the risk of overweight/obesity.