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Study shows social media steering people to unhealthy eating

Social media providing negative influence to healthy eating habits
Posted at 11:48 AM, Jan 18, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-18 12:50:13-05

When it comes to healthy eating, there's more negative influence coming from social media than you might think.

Researchers looked at some of the most followed accounts on Instagram. They found an overwhelming number of their posts about food and drinks would be considered unhealthy - by nutritional standards other countries have for advertising guidelines.

And most of the posts are not sponsored.

“If they post a single food post or a single beverage post, this hits the news feeds of more people than the amount of people who are going to watch the Super Bowl a month from now,” said Bradley Turnwald, a behavioral scientist with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

The study also found that when a celebrity posted something considered "unhealthy" they got more likes and comments than the healthy food and drink posts.