Diabetes Health in the News Podcast: Social Media Impacts Teenager Nutrition

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Teens are spending more time than ever on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Unfortunately, a recent study has shown that increased time spent on social networking can lead to poor nutritional choices, including consuming sugary beverages and skipping breakfast.

The researchers utilized a survey of nearly 9,000 middle school and high school students. Findings showed that the more hours spent on social media per day, the greater the odds were that they would engage in poor nutritional behaviors.

However, this study did not show an association between the time spent on social media sites and obesity or BMI, which was unexpected. Future studies will be needed to understand the conflicting findings on the link between social media and excess weight.

These results were published in the British Journal of Nutrition on September 24, 2015.