Social Media Use, Food Craving and Ultra Processed Food Consumption in Students

Nowadays, social media has gained an important place in the daily lives of individuals and has become a factor that can be effective on dietary habits. Food content frequently shared on social media platforms, especially advertisements related to ultra-processed foods, can shape food perceptions and consumption behaviours. This may increase ultra-processed food consumption by triggering individuals' food craving.

Ultra-processed foods are foods that contain high levels of sugar, fat, salt and additives, have low nutritional value but are attractive in terms of flavour. Such foods can create an addiction-like consumption cycle because they provide fast energy and directly affect the brain reward system. Intensive visual and content exposure to these foods on social media may increase individuals' appetite reactions and lead to the spread of unhealthy eating habits.

University students are one of the most affected groups due to their young age group and intensive use of social media. At the same time, it is known that the eating habits acquired during this period are decisive on sustainable health in the long term. Therefore, examining the relationship between social media use, food craving and ultra-processed food consumption is an important issue in terms of developing nutritional awareness and promoting healthy eating habits.

Objective: This study aims to examine the effect of university students' exposure to ultra-processed food content on their food craving and ultra-processed food consumption on social media platforms.

Method This study will be conducted online via a questionnaire prepared through Google Forms and the students of Atılım University will be included in the study. Before starting the study, participants will be asked to read and approve the Informed Voluntary Consent Form. The study will be conducted with at least 150 participants. It is planned to collect and analyse the data between April 2025 and June 2025.

The first part of the data collection form includes questions about the demographic characteristics (gender, age, marital status, occupation, etc.) and anthropometric measurements (body weight, height) of the participants. In the second part of the form, there will be questions about their social media use (duration of use, exposure to nutrients, etc.). The third part of the questionnaire form includes the 'Food Craving Questionnaire Short Form (FCQT-R)', which was developed to evaluate the desire to eat and was adapted into Turkish in 2021. The scale consists of 15 questions and includes a 6-point scale ranging from 'Never' (1) to 'Always' (6). The scale has a score range of 15-90. A low score indicates a low food craving experience, while a high score indicates a high food craving experience. In the fourth part of the data collection form, the 'Multiprocessed Food Consumption Short Screening Questionnaire' developed for the evaluation of ultra-processed food consumption and adapted into Turkish by Gövez et al. There are 11 items in the scale. For each question, the participants will be asked to tick one of the yes or no answers. The score that can be obtained from the scale varies between 0 and 11. There are no reverse items in the scale. Each yes is scored as 1 point. 6 points and above is considered as high processed food consumption. Participants will not be asked for their names and identity information, and research data will not be shared with any institution.

Expected Results of the Study: This study is expected to show that exposure to ultra-processed food content on social media may increase university students' food craving and ultra-processed food consumption. It is predicted that the duration of social media use and content interaction may encourage unconscious eating behaviours and this may lead to unhealthy eating habits. The findings are expected to contribute to understanding the effects of social media on nutrition and shed light on the development of strategies that promote healthy eating.