The relationship between social media addiction level and body mass index in medical students of a university hospital

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between social media addiction level and body mass index (BMI) and other parameters in medical students of a university hospital. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between February and March 2023 with the inclusion of clinical students (4th, 5th and 6th grade) studying at Hitit University Faculty of Medicine. Participants' general characteristics and Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS) scores were recorded. Results: Of the 190 students who participated in the study, 63.7% were female, the mean age was 23.57 ± 1.33 years, and the mean BMI was 23.50 ± 3.82 kg/m2. 7.9% of the students reported doing physical activity every day. 89.5% stated that they slept an average of ≤8 hours at night and 12.6% stated that they consumed fast food every day of the week. The mean SMAS score of the students was 92.67 ± 29.97. There was no statistically significant correlation between SMAS score and BMI (p>0.05). According to the results of multivariate linear regression analysis performed to evaluate the relationship between the parameters that were found to be statistically significant in univariate analyses and were not included in the SMAS items and the SMAS total score, it was determined that the increase in the frequency of fast-food consumption (p = 0.011), using social media to examine the lives of friends (p<0.001), and using social media to be recognized and popular (p = 0.019) were independent factors affecting the increase in SMAS score. The other parameters were not effective in the increase in SMAS score (p>0.05). Conclusion: We could't found any significant relationship between BMI and social media addiction in this study.Although fast-food consumption, which is known to be associated with increased BMI, was found to be associated with social media addiction, The relationship between BMI and social media addiction can be further elucidated in multicenter and prospective studies.