Association between watching eating shows and unhealthy food consumption in Korean adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Eating habits formed during adolescence greatly influence the maintenance of health in adulthood. With the recent development of social media and easy access to the Internet, adolescents watch plenty of food videos, particularly Mukbang and Cookbnag(eating show)content. This media genre's impact on food choices has been covered in several studies; however, studies on unhealthy eating habits directly related to adolescents' exposure to eating shows are insufficient. METHODS: For this study, we used data from the 18th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted in 2022 and finalized 50,451 participants. The extent of exposure to eating show media over the course of a week, as well as the consumption of fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and high caffeinated beverages within that week were measured through self-reporting questionnaires. We classified the participants into two groups based on their frequency of watching eating shows. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between eating show and unhealthy food consumption. RESULTS: For both males and females, eating show exposure was strongly associated with the consumption of fast food (male: OR:1.37, 95% CI:1.26-1.49; female: OR:1.46, 95% CI:1.36-1.57), SSB (male: OR:1.42, 95% CI:1.26-1.60; female: OR:1.51, 95% CI:1.35-1.70), and high caffeinated beverage (male: OR:1.30, 95% CI:1.23-1.37; female: OR:1.24, 95% CI:1.18-1.31). It was observed that both sexes were more likely to frequently eat unhealthy food than students who did not watch eating shows. CONCLUSION: Among Korean adolescents, students exposed to eating shows, which primarily aim to entertain, were more likely to consume fast food, SSBs, and high caffeinated beverages. Therefore, this study's findings suggest that eating show could influence adolescents' food choices, highlighting the need for interest in emerging cultures and corresponding health policies.

The Relationship Between Watching Mukbang (Eating Show), Eating Behaviors, and Anthropometric Parameters in Iranian Female Students.

BACKGROUND: With the increasing watching of programs such as Mukbang, the study of eating behaviors and anthropometric parameters and their relationship with Mukbang should be considered to prevent chronic diseases and eating disorders. This study investigated the relationship between watching Mukbang with eating behaviors and anthropometric parameters in female students at Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: In this study, 114 female students aged 18 to 31 years were selected using simple random sampling. General information, watching Mukbang status, and the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) were administered to the participants online. RESULTS: The prevalence of Mukbang watching in female students of the present study was 60.5%. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between the frequency of Mukbang watching and emotional or restrained eating behavior (P > 0.05), while there was a significant relationship between external eating behavior and the frequency of watching Mukbang (P=0.0001). It was found that with increasing watching time, external eating also increased. According to the results of logistic regression analysis, the external eating chance was 27% lower in students who watch Mukbang rarely than those who have never watched such a show. However, this chance was 0.31 and 9.58 times higher in students who occasionally and always watch Mukbang, respectively. CONCLUSION: There is a significant relationship between external eating behaviors and watching Mukbang.