Volume 26, Issue 130, December 2022

Impact of social media as a risk factor of increased fast-food consumption and increased bad health habits in children and adolescents in Saudi Arabia

Nashmiah Obaid Sulaiman Alanazi¹, Manal Mohammed Eid Alhawiti², Saleh Ahmad Almuzini³, Mashael Zayed M AlBalawi⁴, Maram Fahad A Alsuwaidan⁵, Abrar Abdulaziz Alanazi⁶, Abdulkarim Muteb Mohammed Alanazi⁷, Shoog Mohsen R Alharbi⁸, Marwa Fahad A Alsuwaidan⁹

¹Consultant General Pediatric, Maternity and Children's Hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
²General Practitioner, Maternity and Children's Hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
³General Practitioner, DhahratNamar PHC in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁴General Practitioner, Aleskan PHC in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
⁵General Practitioner, Kind Salman Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁶General Practitioner, Maternity and Children's Hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
⁷Pediatric Registrar, Military Hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
⁸Medical Student, Tabuk University, Saudi Arabia
⁹General Practitioner, Kind Salman Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Because of the worsening health effects, fast food consumption and its effects have become a serious public health problem worldwide. Aim: Our study sought to determine the relationship between the effects of different social media usage and its impact on the frequency of fast-food intake, as well as the growth in poor nutritional implications in children and adolescents among the Saudi Arabian general population. Methods: Our study adapted a cross-sectional study design. The study included a sample of Saudi children and adolescents of both sexes. A predesigned questionnaire was used for data collection and data were managed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Results: The study included 300 participants of whom 80.7% were females. 95% of the participants in the study reported using social media and 45.7% reported using it more than four hours per day. Social media usage habits were reported to be high by 46% of respondents. In total, 76.7% of the participants in the research said they like fast food and 61.3% said they enjoyed soda. Only 31% believe that watching online fast-food promotions increases their fast-food consumption. Conclusion: Fast food choices and behaviors were significantly connected with the average daily usage of social media. People, who like fast food, consume it in restaurants, prefer salty food, dislike sweet food, drink soda and do not think that seeing online advertisements for fast food promotes consumption were more likely to use social media heavily.

Keywords: Fast-food, dietary habits, healthy food, public health

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms538e2590

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i130/ms538e2590

Published: 19 December 2022