It’s tough to scroll through social media without seeing a few mouth-watering posts, but it’s more than just photos of people’s latest dinners and drinks we’re taking in. New research reveals just how much of an impact social media has on people’s diets. A survey of 2-thousand adults finds that more than a third admit to making choices about what they eat based on information they get from social media.
The poll, commissioned by Arla Foods looks at how people are making decisions about their diets. Their research shows:
- The top changes people have made to their diets because of social media influence include setting intake limits, drinking water instead of snacking and cutting out all snacking.
- Social media has led more than a quarter of those polled to cut out all bread and more than one in five to give up dairy.
- While 65% say they’d prefer to stick with dairy over alternatives, 27% now think cutting all animal products from their diet is the right thing to do. And 49% admit feeling ashamed to order dairy in public in front of their friends.
- Respondents are also confused about what makes a “sustainable diet”, 54% feel it’s eating locally sourced food, 41% think it’s swapping animal protein for plant-based alternatives and 35% say it’s choosing food that has the least environmental impact.
- Gen Z feels most pressured into making diet decisions, with just over half (55%) using social media to inform those choices.
- But only 28% say they actually check to see if there are facts to back up what they see or hear on social media.
- And that’s a problem, especially for the nearly one in five adults who admit to relying on social media as a legitimate source of information.
Source: NY Post