The Influence of Social Media Affinity on Eating Attitudes and Body Dissatisfaction in Philippine Adolescents

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the influence of social media affinity on eating attitudes and body dissatisfaction among adolescents in the Philippines. METHODS: The participants were 114 junior high school students enrolled in 7th to 10th grade in Cavite Province, Philippines. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS, using descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple linear regression. RESULTS: The factors affecting eating attitudes were body dissatisfaction (β=-.47, p<.001), social media affinity (β=.33, p<.001) and grade (10th grade) (β=-.28, p<.001), and the factors influencing body dissatisfaction were eating attitudes (β=-.65, p<.001) and social media affinity (β=.17, p=.041). CONCLUSION: In order to promote healthy eating attitudes and to improve body satisfaction among Philippine adolescents, educational strategies tailored to social media users will be needed.