Intuitive eating and susceptibility to eating disorders of adult women consuming various types of nutrition content on Instagram

Nutrition is fundamental for growth, development, and maintaining life. However, when behaviors become obsessive to manage weight, physical and mental problems can arise. These problems can serve as precursors to eating disorders. In contrast, intuitive eating, an adaptive eating model, is known to be inversely related to eating disorders and health problems. Instagram has become a powerful source for nutrition information. Numerous studies have demonstrated the influence of social media on eating behaviors. The aim of this study is to determine the intuitive eating tendencies and susceptibility to eating disorders of adult women consuming various types of nutrition content on Instagram. 1383 women aged 18 and above using Instagram between 1-31 January, 2023, voluntarily participated in this study. Online surveys including the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2), the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) were administered to collect socio-demographic and Instagram usage characteristics, and to determine factors that influence intuitive eating and eating disorders. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 26.0. Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for between-group comparisons, Spearman's rank correlation test was used to assess the relationship between scales. The mean age of the women is 25.8 ± 7.0, and 89.5% consume nutrition content on Instagram. 20.8% of the women who consume nutrition content have clinically significant eating disorders (p<0.05). Among women who consume nutrition content, 47.0% consume mostly or entirely intuitive eating content, and have the lowest frequency of needing clinical guidance; 45.1% consume mostly or entirely diet-related content and have the highest frequency of needing clinical guidance for eating disorders (p<0.05). Among women who reported negative affects on their nutrition, the proportion of those with possible eating disorders (EAT-26:75.9%; EDE-Q:46.6%) is higher than that of those who reported positive effects (EAT-26:49.8%; EDE-Q:14.5%) (p<0.05). Consuming nutrition content and spending more time on Instagram, opening Instagram frequently, consuming nutrition content for weight management or due to eating disorders, consuming diet-related content, experiencing negative effects on nutrition and negative emotions in response to nutrition content are found to be associated with lower intuitive eating ability and higher susceptibility to eating disorders. Based on these findings, it is important to draw attention to Instagram usage and the type of nutrition content consumed to promote intuitive eating behavior and provide preventive approaches to eating disorders in society. Healthcare professionals and content creators should approach this issue with sensitivity and raise awareness.