Finding New Food Inspiration

On social media platforms like Instagram, food is easily the most popular and most frequently photographed subject on the network.

There are millions upon millions of food posts.

This is where many food trends have started, with companies being able to reap incredible marketing success with little to no effort or investment. Some companies that have had their food posts go viral have seen booms in business success as a result, thanks to this word-of-mouth effect that Instagram offers with people tagging and sharing their favorite food photos.

And what we see other people posting and eating online might be more of an influence on our eating habits than we realize.

New research from the Aston University School of Life and Health Sciences, suggests that we are likely to be majorly influenced by the food posts that we see online.

The study results have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Appetite.

According to the research, if we are continually seeing unhealthy food posts, researchers say it might entice us to stay off track more with our eating. Whereas if we have friends who are frequently posting healthy food items and meals then we are going to be more motivated to stay on-track.

This is believed to be the first research of its kind in seeking to investigate the modern influence of social media food posts on our eating habits.

The study involved asking participants to rate their social circles on how much healthy or unhealthy food their friends might consume. Do they eat vegetables often? Energy drinks? Chips? Etc.

Those who believed that their friends were more supportive of junk food were also found to be equally more indulgent with the unhealthy food themselves.

“So if we believe our friends are eating plenty of fruit and veg we're more likely to eat fruit and veg ourselves. On the other hand, if we feel they're happy to consume lots of snacks and sugary drinks, it can give us a 'license to overeat' foods that are bad for our health.” - Dr Jason Thomas

It isn't so much the influence of social media imagery or food exposure etc on the eating habits as it is the peer pressure and submission to the collective narrative of those who surround us most often.

Are they all healthy eaters? Then you might likely be too. Are they all eating their way through the junk food aisle? Then this might influence you to adopt the same preference.

“This study suggests we may be influenced by our social peers more than we realize when choosing certain foods. We seem to be subconsciously accounting for how others behave when making our own food choices." - Dr. J Thomas

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