Hi everyone, my blog explores the negative (and some positive) effects of food photos and videos posted within Social Media and how they may be affecting their audiences far more than we imagined…
Issues with Body Image through Foodstagraming … #foodforthought
Girls in particular are constantly comparing their bodies to one another and seeking to be the slimmest of the lot. Although it may not seem the case, blasting photos of food all over social media can be a sign of obsession, whether its healthy food or junk food.
The impact Social Media has on body image is far greater than imagined and this new found obsession with snapping everything we put in our mouths isn’t making the situation any better! It has been voiced rather a lot that the strong association between social media and issues involving dieting, body image concerns, self- objectification from young girls, and a drive for thinness are linked. As women how many health and fitness accounts spam our social media news feeds ? Too many. Instead of focusing on ourselves women have become obsessed with the idea of being the ‘thinnest’ or ‘prettiest’ and the amount of ‘fad’ diets caused by social media impacting young women’s self image is astonishing…
Facebook, Instagram and snapchat allow teens to earn their approval though popularity online, likes and followers are compared to see who is ranked at the top. Although health and fitness accounts are not directly negatively effecting young minds, they are still having a renowned effect.
The seeking for perfection, to look like the bikini models that these young girls see as they scroll through their news feeds daily, influences them into eating disorders and obsessions.
The new found obsession with what we put in our mouths links when searching to find out why such a huge amount of young women fight with their body image. Heather R. Gallivan, who works for Park Nicollet Melrose Centre wrote a paper based on Teens, Social Media and Body Image and talks about U.S teenage girls. Gallivan found out that 80% of U.S women don’t like how they look, and this dissatisfaction mirrors that of women in the UK as well. It was also stated that 50% of teenage girls in the U.S make unhealthy decisions such as skipping meals, vomiting, smoking, taking laxatives and fasting in order to lose weight quickly. These statistics reflect the feelings of women worldwide who see unrealistic images of ‘the perfect body’ and go to extremes in order to achieve unrealistic and unhealthy body weights. Although ‘Foodstagramming’ may not immediately seem a factor within body image issues, it is combining with Social Media as a hole to make the world far more judgemental of what is ‘normal’ by constantly obsessing over every calorie that we intake.
Social Media is changing the way we think about food… #foodforthought
It is not necessarily all negative effects that come from ‘foodstaramming’, there are some positives, for example by snapping food and drinks constantly, we are more aware than ever of what we are putting into our bodies. However a majority of the time the ‘foodporn’ blasted across social media is food full of fats, salt and sugars which is playing a part in the obesity epidemic that continues around the UK, and worldwide.
Dr Valerie Taylor talked at the Canadian Obesity Summit about the growing relationship social media has to food and people alike. Many journalists have stated that you must have some kind of mental problem if you obsessively snap pictures of everything you eat. However, this isn’t always the case. The problem is knowing when to stop. Can you attend a social gathering without the risk of whipping out your smart phone to get a snap of your every mouthful?
Food porn has been labeled as an issue linked to the obesity epidemic, having said that, it’s also been said if you are constantly loading up pictures of salad that you may have anorexia. So which one is it? Is there such thing as a normal relationship with food, or is every angle of food within modern technology going to be criticized?
Dr Taylor says the main issue with the likes of‘foodstagramming’is that food is no longer considered as ‘fuel’. Nowadays food is not just part of a social event but it has become an event in itself. The development of food in social media has had both a positive and negative effect. The apps such as ‘The Eatery’ and ‘FitID’ are allowing users to upload photos of their meals and even go as far as let other people judge how healthy their meals are. These kind of apps have been said to help people proportion how much they are eating and eat less in doing so, making users gain healthier eating habits.
However, it could also be argued that people only post the healthy photos and keep to themselves when they are scoffing down 12 sugared donuts… Could it be argued that this ashamed feeling grows when we see fitness guru’s blasting healthy snacks all over social media, when we have just consumed a greasy snack we arnt quite so proud to share with the internet.
Food, has and always will, provoke many different emotions within people, including shame and pride. Eating links closely to self-image and our health and fitness habits and routines, and although there isn’t necessarily a ‘right’ way to feel about food, social media makes us feel like there is. This constant judging of one another engulfs social media, not just within food, but in every aspect. Food, however, and our views on it, have changed remarkably in recent years and the craze is sadly still young, so watch out for many more years of your social media feeds being filled with delicious treats, both healthy and not!
TRYING IT OUT AT HOME… #foodporn #foodforthought
This home video shows a positive effect of food blogging, it encourages people to try out crazy new ideas that they have never tried before, such as sushi!!
On the other hand… all these videos that spam our news feeds daily do tempt us to sometimes make unhealthy treats that we don’t need. Then again, it can also introduce us to healthy snacks such as sushi!
These videos can also entice us into spending money (that we really don’t have) on ingredients for recipes we want to try out…
There are so many negatives and positives to food clogging up our Social Media, and like everything, this is alright in small amounts but wasting away hours tagging our friends in foodie videos and ‘foodporn’ pictures, is not always productive and we find ourselves getting distracted for hours on our smart phones, then wondering where our day has gone!
Obesity rise in the UK… THE BAN #foodforthought
Growing obesity rates in the UK
Although food and drink advertising may not seem like the number one priority linked with childhood obesity, the infatuation children today have with the internet and social media allows them to be brainwashed by anything and everything they see.
Advertising foods that are high in fats, salt and sugar (HFSS) has indirectly enhanced the growing rates of childhood obesity in the UK, so much so that the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has employed a ban to start from July onwards.
Josie Clarke wrote a piece for the independent on ‘The ban on junk food advertising aimed at children extended to online and social media’, explaining that the ban will put a stop to all advertising of HFSS products across all non-broadcast media that targets under sixteen year olds.
Ofcom’s latest figures showed that in the UK children aged between five and fifteen spend roughly 15 hours a week with their eyes glued to the internet. The growing amount of time kids are spending online has overtaken the time spent watching TV. The ban aims to stop all advertising for unhealthy foods and drinks across all mediums that have 25 or higher percentage of audiences under 16. The Obesity Health Alliance “welcome the long-awaited rules to protect children”, however the ban has been criticised due to the huge ‘loophole’ in the rule; that kids have access to so many more sites and programmes that don’t make up this 25% child audience.
Parents have little knowledge of what will and won’t be covered in the ban because it is very tricky to predict which programmes will fall under this ‘25%’ mark. There is hope that things will become clearer nearer to when the ban will commence in July.
Children’s Food Campaign coordinator Malcolm Clark stated: “CAP has finally listened to the voices of parents and health professionals” and the battle to stop junk food is an ongoing one which needs far more air time than it is given. Health professionals are thrilled that their voice has been heard. With over a fifth of kids overweight or obese by the time they even start primary school it was clear something needed to change, fast.
CAP chairman James Best states “Our tough new rules are a clear demonstration that the ad industry is willing and ready to act on its responsibilities and puts the protection of children at the heart of its work.” The proof will be in the pudding as we expect to see radical changes to the advertising industry in the months to follow. The hope is that by taking out advertising for junk food it leaves room to promote healthy alternatives that kids(hopefully) won’t turn their noses up at!
The Obesity health alliance spokesperson said “research shows advertising greatly influences the food children choose to eat, and with one third of children overweight or obese by their 11th birthday, we need to protect them from relentless junk food marketing in all walks of life”. The shocking fact that one third of kids under 11 are overweight proves just how big a problem junk food has radically become! A stop to marketing foods that are attractive to kids eyes rather than their bodies is essential and the ban in July couldn’t come at a more crucial time!