Evaluation of adult individuals using social media in terms of body mass index, sleep quality and healthy eating behavior

The aim of this study is to investigate adult individuals in terms of nutritional information, social media shares, body mass index (BMI), sleep quality, body image and healthy eating behavior test (EAT-40). The study was conducted between October 2022 and February 2023 in the 6 neighborhoods (İbrahim, Emek, Karataş, Akkent, Perilikaya, Yeditepe) in Şehitkamil and Şahinbey districts within the borders of Gaziantep province, 52.5% of whom were male, 47%, It was conducted among 200 volunteers. Anthropometric measurements such as demographic characteristics, body weight, and height of all individuals were taken, their BMI's were calculated and evaluated. In addition, 'Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40)', 'Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PKUI)' and 'Body Perception' were applied. The data were evaluated by appropriate statistical methods. It has been determined that the most used social media platform is Instagram. According to the eating attitude test of individuals, a statistically significant difference was found between the averages of the answers given to the question of how often do you use social media in an ordinary day (p=0,036, p<0,05). As the frequency of using social media increases, so does the eating disorder. Among individuals' mean BMI according to EAT-40, body weight averages according to PKUI, and body perception number environments according to gender (p=0,030, p<0,05), (p=0,009, p<0,05), (p=0,042, p<0,05), a statistically significant difference was found. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between the eating attitude test and Pittsburgh sleep quality (r=-,172, p<0,05), whereas a positive statistically significant correlation was found between the eating attitude test and body image (r=,349, p <0,05). Social media is a fast and effective tool to reach information, and shared nutrition information should be made by experts in the subject and seriously supervised.