Virtual Influences, Real Consequences: Social Media’s Role in Food Preferences and Nutrition Among Punjab’s Adolescent Girls

Virtual Influences, Real Consequences: Social Media’s Role in Food Preferences and Nutrition Among Punjab’s Adolescent Girls

Dr. Simran Kaushal

Contact

α Punjab Agricultural University

Virtual Influences, Real Consequences: Social Media’s Role in Food Preferences and Nutrition Among Punjab’s Adolescent Girls

Article Fingerprint

ReserarchID

25Y52

Virtual Influences, Real Consequences: Social Media’s Role in Food Preferences and Nutrition Among Punjab’s Adolescent Girls Banner

AI TAKEAWAY

Connecting with the Eternal Ground

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of social media usage on the food choices and nutritional status of school-going adolescent girls in Punjab. A total of 520 subjects, aged 16-18 years, were selected from rural and urban schools across Punjab. The sample was divided into social media users and non-users based on daily usage duration, with further subdivision into rural and urban categories. Comprehensive data was collected on socio-economic status, dietary habits, physical activity and anthropometric parameters. Dietary intake was assessed using the 24-hour recall method and compared with the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). Nutrient adequacy and dietary diversity scores were calculated, while body composition was analyzed using advanced tools. Results revealed significant differences in dietary patterns, nutrient intake, and body composition between users and non-users of social media. Rural nonusers displayed healthier eating habits, including higher fruit consumption and lower fat intake, while urban users reported greater consumption of processed and junk foods.

References

59 Cites in Article

Reference Format

(2025). Unknown Title.
Margaret Ashwell,Shiun Hsieh (2005). Six reasons why the waist-to-height ratio is a rapid and effective global indicator for health risks of obesity and how its use could simplify the international public health message on obesity.
M Bhargava,A Bhargava,S Ghate,R S P Rao (2020). Nutritional status of Indian adolescents (15-19 years) from National Family Health Surveys 3 and 4: Revised estimates using WHO 2007 Growth reference.
S Bhattacharya,A Srivastava,R Mohan (2020). Undernutrition and the dual burden of malnutrition in India.
C Bornhorst,T Wijnhoven,M Kunesova,A Yngve,A Rito,L Lissner,V Duleva,A Petrauskiene,J Breda (2015). WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative: associations between sleep duration, screen time and food consumption frequencies.
Patrali Chatterjee (2011). Drivers of new product recommending and referral behaviour on social network sites.
R Chatterjee,A Gupta,P Singh (2020). Refined grains and their impact on adolescent nutrition.
M Chaudhary,P Verma,K Singh (2017). Influence of family structure on eating behaviors among adolescents: A rural-urban comparison.
S Choudhary,C Mishra,K P Shukla (2010). Dietary pattern and nutrition related knowledge of rural adolescent girls.
A Coates,C Hardman,J Halford,G Christiansen,P Boyland,E J (2019). Social media influencer marketing and children's food intake: a randomized trial.
Anna Coates,Charlotte Hardman,Jason Halford,Paul Christiansen,Emma Boyland (2019). The effect of influencer marketing of food and a “protective” advertising disclosure on children's food intake.
Jai Das,Rehana Salam,Kent Thornburg,Andrew Prentice,Susan Campisi,Zohra Lassi,Berthold Koletzko,Zulfiqar Bhutta (2017). Nutrition in adolescents: physiology, metabolism, and nutritional needs.
Marijke De Veirman,Veroline Cauberghe,Liselot Hudders (2017). Marketing through Instagram influencers: the impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude.
S Dunlop,Freeman Jones,S C (2016). Marketing to youth in the digital age: The promotion of unhealthy products and health promotion efforts on social media.
(2021). OCDE‑FAO Perspectivas Agrícolas 2021‑2030.
Karen Freberg,Kristin Graham,Karen Mcgaughey,Laura Freberg (2011). Who are the social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality.
(2019). Economic Survey of India 2019.
J Gross,F V Wangenheim (2018). Thema der nächsten Ausgabe: Big Data - Chancen und Gefahren.
C Holmberg,J Chaplin,T Hillman,C Berg (2019). Adolescents' presentation of food in social media: An explorative study.
G Balaji,S Sinha,M Surekha,V Kasturi,S Mungamuri,P Shashikala (2017). Correlation studies on pathological changes in brain with neurotransmitters and behavioural changes in Balb/c mice.
Sneha Jakhotia,Branislav Nastasijević,Gordana Joksić,Sreenivasa Reddy,G Reddy (2020). Gentiana lutea AND DIABETIC COMPLICATIONS.
D Jelliffe (1966). an Assessment of the Nutritional Status of the Community.
Johnson Smith,T (2019). Dietary fats and carbohydrates: Friend or foe?.
A Kaplan,M Haenlein (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media.
Shekhar Swaroop,Paras Singla,Upendra Baitha,Gaurav Gupta,Amandeep Singh (2017). Extensive Deep Vein Thrombosis: A Rare Manifestation of Disseminated Tuberculosis.
V Khadilkar,S Yadav,K Agrawal,S Tamboli,N Patil (2021). Prevalence of malnutrition among Indian adolescents: National Family Health Survey findings.
A Kumar,K Sharma,P Verma (2018). Micronutrients in adolescent health.
P Kumar,S Kaur (2020). Religious beliefs and dietary patterns in adolescents.
L Lipsky,R J Iannotti (2012). Associations of television viewing with eating behaviors in the 2009 health behaviour in school-aged children study.
Lauren Lissner,Anne Lanfer,Wencke Gwozdz,Steingerdur Olafsdottir,Gabriele Eiben,Luis Moreno,Alba Santaliestra-Pasías,Éva Kovács,Gianvincenzo Barba,Helle-Mai Loit,Yiannis Kourides,Valeria Pala,Hermann Pohlabeln,Stefaan De Henauw,Kirsten Buchecker,Wolfgang Ahrens,Lucia Reisch (2012). Television habits in relation to overweight, diet and taste preferences in European children: the IDEFICS study.
A Malik,J Singh,R Narang (2020). Trends in processed food consumption among urban adolescents in India.
W Mangold,David Faulds (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix.
R Narain,P Mathur (2018). Obesity and dietary patterns in urban Indian adolescents.
A Narayan,M Gupta,R Sharma (2021). Impact of family dynamics on adolescent autonomy in food choices.
D Nithya,R V Bhavani (2018). DIETARY DIVERSITY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH NUTRITIONAL STATUS AMONG ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS IN RURAL INDIA.
E Ortiz-Ospina (2019). The rise of social media.
R B Patel,R Joshi,P Mehta (2020). Hypertension in adolescents: A growing concern in rural India.
S Patel,R Shah,A Desai (2019). Hydration and cognitive performance in adolescents: The Indian perspective.
George Patton,Susan Sawyer,John Santelli,David Ross,Rima Afifi,Nicholas Allen,Monika Arora,Peter Azzopardi,Wendy Baldwin,Christopher Bonell,Ritsuko Kakuma,Elissa Kennedy,Jaqueline Mahon,Terry Mcgovern,Ali Mokdad,Vikram Patel,Suzanne Petroni,Nicola Reavley,Kikelomo Taiwo,Jane Waldfogel,Dakshitha Wickremarathne,Carmen Barroso,Zulfiqar Bhutta,Adesegun Fatusi,Amitabh Mattoo,Judith Diers,Jing Fang,Jane Ferguson,Frederick Ssewamala,Russell Viner (2016). Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing.
B Popkin (2020). Global trends in obesity.
Yara Qutteina,Lotte Hallez,Maxime Raedschelders,Charlotte De Backer,Tim Smits (2021). Food for teens: how social media is associated with adolescent eating outcomes.
Rani,Rani (2016). Assessment of nutritional status of school going adolescents in Fatehabad district of Haryana research article.
S Reddy,V Kumar (2020). Under-nutrition in rural adolescents: Challenges and interventions.
Reid Chassiakos,Y Radesky,J Christakis,D Moreno,M A Cross,C Hill,D Ameenuddin,N Hutchinson,J Levine,A Boyd,R Mendelson,R (2016). Children and adolescents and digital media.
T N Robinson,J Banda,L Hale,A S Lu,Fleming Milici,F Calvert,S Wartella,E (2017). Screen media exposure and obesity in children and adolescents.
A Sharma,M Bansal,P Singh (2019). Access to healthcare among rural and urban adolescents in India.
M Tatlow-Golden,E Hennessy,Dean Hollywood,L (2017). Young children's food brand knowledge.
(2016). Data sources - The background papers.
Xia Wang,Chunling Yu,Yujie Wei (2012). Social Media Peer Communication and Impacts on Purchase Intentions: A Consumer Socialization Framework.
Yuxi Wang,Martin Mckee,Aleksandra Torbica,David Stuckler (2020). Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media.
Rabbanietariq Wani (2019). Socioeconomic status scales-modified Kuppuswamy and Udai Pareekh's scale updated for 2019.
Who (2004). Expert Consultation. Appropriate bodymass index for Asian populations and its implycations for policy and intervention strategies.
Who (2008). Action plan for the global strategy for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, 2008-2013.
(2016). 1.N. Workshop: Regulating Digital Marketing to Children to Prevent Chronic Diseases and Promote Children’s Rights.
(2001). Candau, Marcolino Gomes, (30 May 1911–25 Jan. 1983), Director-General Emeritus, World Health Organization, Geneva, since 1973.
Who (2021). Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases.
(2020). Global strategy on diet, physical activity, and health.
Hidde Van Der Ploeg,Fiona Bull (2020). Invest in physical activity to protect and promote health: the 2020 WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
Nhu Tran Minh,Qudsia Huda,Humayun Asghar,Dalia Samhouri,Abdinasir Abubakar,Caroline Barwa,Irshad Shaikh,Evans Buliva,Peter Mala,Mamunur Malik (2021). Zika virus: no cases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region but concerns remain.

Download References

Funding

No external funding was declared for this work.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

No ethics committee approval was required for this article type.

Data Availability

Not applicable for this article.

How to Cite This Article

Dr. Simran Kaushal. 2026. \u201cVirtual Influences, Real Consequences: Social Media’s Role in Food Preferences and Nutrition Among Punjab’s Adolescent Girls\u201d. Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology - G: Interdisciplinary GJMBR-G Volume 25 (GJMBR Volume 25 Issue G1): .

More Citation Formats

Select Citation Style:

Download Citation

Download Article

GJMBR Volume 25 Issue G1
Pg. 15- 34

Explore Journals Explore Volume Read This Issue

Journal Specifications

Crossref Journal DOI 10.17406/gjcst

Print ISSN 0975-4350

e-ISSN 0975-4172

Keywords

Not Found

Submission ReceivedSeptember 9, 2025
Peer Review Double Blind
Handling Editor
Accepted September 15, 2025
Published September 25, 2025

Version of record

v1.2

Issue date

October 6, 2025

Language

Experiance in AR

Explore published articles in an immersive Augmented Reality environment. Our platform converts research papers into interactive 3D books, allowing readers to view and interact with content using AR and VR compatible devices.

View in VR

Read in 3D

Your published article is automatically converted into a realistic 3D book. Flip through pages and read research papers in a more engaging and interactive format.

View in 3D

Article Matrices

Total Views: 259

Total Downloads: 74

2026 Trends

Published Article

Our website is actively being updated, and changes may occur frequently. Please clear your browser cache if needed. For feedback or error reporting, please email [email protected]