NUTRITIONAL ADEQUACY IN ASSOCIATION WITH SOCIAL MEDIA USE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

A cross-sectional study evaluated the association between nutritional adequacy and social media use among 390 university students (mean age 22.5±2.4 years). Participants completed questionnaires on sociodemographics, anthropometrics (height, weight, BMI, waist/hip), nutrition knowledge (GNKQ-R), social media usage, and dietary intake (food frequency questionnaire). Nutrient intakes were compared to recommended dietary allowances to assess adequacy. Data were analyzed with SPSS (chi-square tests, t-tests and one-way ANOVA; p<0.05).

Most students (68.5%) had normal BMI; 15.6% were overweight, 12.3% underweight, and 3.6% obese. The mean nutrition knowledge score was 34.7±18.1 (60.0% of students classified as ‘poor’ knowledge). The mean social media score was 74.9±26.1; 40.8% of students were categorized as high users. Fast food was eaten daily by 32.1% of students; 26.4% reported rarely or never consuming sugary beverages. Comparing to recommended intakes, mean energy was 89.5% of RDA, protein and fat met 100% of RDA, and carbohydrate 91.3%. In contrast, mean fiber intake was only 59.0% of RDA and many micronutrients were low (e.g. calcium 37.4%, iron 51.3%, vitamin B1 47.1%, B2 50.0%, B6 23.5%, folic acid 13.0%, vitamin D 67.3%).

BMI increased significantly with higher social media use (p<0.001), whereas BMI decreased with better nutrition knowledge (p<0.001). Energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and cholesterol intakes all rose with greater social media use (p<0.05), as did consumption of fast food, meat, dairy and sweetened beverages (p<0.001). Conversely, higher nutrition knowledge was linked to lower intake of fast foods, meat, dairy, and sugary drinks (p<0.001) and greater adequacy of energy, protein, cholesterol and fiber intake (p<0.05). Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio were reduced with improved nutrition knowledge (p<0.001). Overall, heavy social media engagement corresponded to poorer dietary adequacy, while greater nutrition knowledge correlated with healthier diets. These findings highlight the need for targeted nutrition education interventions (e.g. via popular social media channels) to improve students’ dietary adequacy