Who sends the message matters: social media messengers and adolescent eating

Adolescents encounter large volumes of non-core (i.e., nutritionally poor and unhealthy) food messages on social media. The relationship between these messages and eating is a product of both the volume of exposure to the message (e.g., frequent exposure) and the various sources (i.e., messengers) relaying each of these messages. This study investigates and compares how adolescents’ perceived volume of exposure to food messages from different social media messenger categories (peers, influencers, celebrities, food brands, and health organizations) is associated with their eating outcomes. A cross-sectional survey of 1,002 adolescents (aged 11–19 years) showed that adolescents report significantly higher exposure to non-core food messages posted by peers, celebrities, influencers, and brands compared to core food messages, and that greater exposure to such messages is significantly associated with higher non-core food liking, norms and/or intake. Only exposure to core food messages posted by health organizations was significantly associated with core food consumption. These findings highlight the importance of food marketing regulations particularly those addressing peer and influencer driven content. They also highlight the significance of peers and health organizations, as messenger categories, in social media food communication to adolescents.