The relationship between social media addiction and eating attitudes of high school students in a district center

Introduction: Today, social media appears as a medium where individuals spend time that affects their social lives, get inspiration, follow developments around the world, and communicate with their social environment. It is very important to investigate these effects of social media, especially considering that individuals in adolescence are affected by this situation, compare their physical appearance with other people, and this may affect their eating attitudes as a result. Objective: The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between social media addiction and eating attitudes of high school students in adolescence. Method: During the 2022-2023 academic year, a survey including sociodemographic questions, social media addiction scale and eating attitude test-40 scale was administered to students at Bozkurt Sports High School and Bozkurt Multi-Program Anatolian High School in Bozkurt district of Denizli province, with the permission of their parents. Results: 214 students participated in our study. The average age of the students was 16.65±1.33, their average BMI value was 21.56±3.10 kg/m², and their average weight was 61.57±11.0 kg. 25.7% of the students participating in the study were found to be addicted to social media. An eating disorder was detected in 11.20% of the students participating in the study. It was found statistically significant that students' BMI values were higher if they had an eating disorder (p=0.002). A statistically significant relationship was found between students' being influenced by the physiques of popular people and the presence of an eating disorder (p = 0.013). When students who spend time with their families are taken as a reference, not spending enough time with the family increases the risk of eating disorders by 4.26 times. There was no significant relationship between social media addiction status and the presence of an eating disorder. Discussion and conclusion: In our study, the frequencies of social media addiction and eating disorders were found to be lower than other studies. However, no significant relationship was found between students' social media addiction and eating disorders. It has been observed that eating disorders in this age group are mostly associated with time spent with family and being influenced by the physiques of popular people. In light of these results, more studies should be conducted to examine high school students' social media usage and how it affects their lives. Keywords: Social media addiction, Eating disorder, High school students