Physical Appearance Comparison on Social Media and Social Appearance Anxiety: Relationship with Eating Disorder Risk among Nutrition and Dietetics Students

Gökçe Ünal; Melahat Sedanur Macit Çelebi

doi:10.31067/acusaglik.1732527

Physical Appearance Comparison on Social Media and Social Appearance Anxiety: Relationship with Eating Disorder Risk among Nutrition and Dietetics Students

Abstract

Purpose: Nutrition and dietetics students are reported to be at higher risk for eating disorders than the general population. This study aims to determine the relationship between the comparison of physical appearance on social media and social appearance anxiety with the risk of eating disorders among nutrition and dietetics students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 130 nutrition and dietetics students (mean age: 22.6±4.7 years) using an online survey between January and March 2023 at a public university in Türkiye. The Social Media Physical Appearance Comparison Scale (SM-PACS) and the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) were administered. The risk of eating disorders was determined with the Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26) and the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ). Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using self-reported weight (kg) and height (cm). Results: Higher SM-PACS and SAAS scores were associated with higher odds of being at risk for disordered eating according to EAT-26 (p<0.001). After adjusting for BMI, SM-PACS and SAAS scores were associated with higher scores of EAT-26, DEBQ total, DEBQ-emotional eating (p<0.001), and DEBQ-external eating subscales (p<0.01). SM-PACS score was also related to a higher restrained eating subscale score of the DEBQ scale (p<0.001). Conclusion: Comparison of physical appearance on social media and social appearance anxiety is associated with the elevated risk of eating disorders among nutrition and dietetics students.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

This study received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of Ondokuz Mayıs University, dated 28/12/2022, numbered 2022/550.

References

1. Treasure J, Duarte T, Schmidt U. Eating disorders. Lancet [Internet]. 2020; 395 (10227): 899–911. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30059-3
2. Matusik A, Grajek M, Szlacheta P, et al. Comparison of the prevalence of eating disorders among dietetics students and students of other fields of study at selected universities (Silesia, Poland). Nutrients. 2022;14(15):3210. DOI: 10.3390/nu14153210
3. Hay P, Aouad P, Le A, et al. Epidemiology of eating disorders: population, prevalence, disease burden and quality of life informing public policy in Australia—a rapid review. J Eat Disord. 2023;11(1):23. DOI: 10.1186/s40337-023-00738-7
4. Porter J, Collins J. Do images of dietitians on the Internet reflect the profession? J Hum Nutr Diet. 2021;34(1):106-14. DOI: 10.1111/ jhn.12793
5. Bessey M, Brady J, Lordly D, et al. “This is what you’re supposed to do”: Weight stigma in dietetics education. Fat Stud. 2021;10(2):184- 96. DOI: 10.1080/21604851.2020.1859078
6. Bennett CJ, Dart J. Disordered eating and eating disorders in nutrition and dietetics students: Is it time to talk? Nutr Diet. 2022;79(3):419-20. DOI: 10.1111/1747-0080.12716
7. Leary MR, Jongman-Sereno KP. Social anxiety as an early warning system: A refinement and extension of the self-presentation theory of social anxiety. Social anxiety: Elsevier; 2014. p. 579-97. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-394427-6.00020-0
8. Christian CB, Ngo BK, Brosof LC, et al. Social appearance anxiety moderates the relationship between thin-ideal internalization and eating disorder symptoms cross-sectionally and prospectively in adolescent girls. Eat Weight Disord. 2021;26(6):2065-70. DOI: 10.1007/s40519-020-01050-y

9. Alcaraz-Ibáñez M, Sicilia Á, Díez-Fernández DM, et al. Physical appearance comparisons and symptoms of disordered eating: The mediating role of social physique anxiety in Spanish adolescents. Body Image. 2020;32:145-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.12.005
10. Cohrdes C, Santos-Hövener C, Kajikhina K, et al. The role of weight-and appearance-related discrimination on eating disorder symptoms among adolescents and emerging adults. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1-14. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-11756-y
11. Schleien JL, Bardone-Cone AM. Competitiveness as a moderator of the relation between appearance-related factors and disordered eating behaviors. Body Image. 2016;17:30-7. DOI: 10.1016/j. bodyim.2016.01.009
12. Sidani JE, Shensa A, Hoffman B, et al. The association between social media use and eating concerns among US young adults. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016;116(9):1465-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2016.03.021
13. González-Nuevo C, Cuesta M, Muñiz J. Concern about appearance on Instagram and Facebook: Measurement and links with eating disorders. Cyberpsychology. 2021;15(2):9. DOI: 10.5817/CP2021-2-9
14. Hawes T, Zimmer-Gembeck MJ, Campbell SM. Unique associations of social media use and online appearance preoccupation with depression, anxiety, and appearance rejection sensitivity. Body Image. 2020;33:66-76. DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.02.010
15. Caner N, Efe YS, Başdaş Ö. The contribution of social media addiction to adolescent LIFE: Social appearance anxiety. Curr Psychol. 2022:1- 10. DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03280-y.
16. Probst YC, Peng Q. Social media in dietetics: Insights into use and user networks. Nutr Diet. 2019;76(4):414-20. DOI: 10.1111/1747-0080.12488
17. Aktaç Ş, Kargin D, Güneş FE. The relationship between social media use, eating attitude and body mass index among nutrition and dietetic female students: A cross-sectional study. Rev Esp Nutr Hum Diet. 2021;25(1):78-86. DOI: 10.14306/renhyd.25.1.1094
18. Fu T, Wang J, Xu S, et al. Media internalized pressure and restrained eating behavior in college students: the multiple mediating effects of body esteem and social physique anxiety. Front Psychol. 2022;13:887124. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.887124
19. Eveleth PB. Physical status: the use and interpretation of anthropometry. Report of a WHO Expert Committee. Wiley Online Library; 1996.
20. Acar M. Adölesanların sosyal medyada ve günlük yaşamda fiziksel görünüm karşılaştırmalarının yeme tutum bozukluğu ile ilişkisi [Doctoral dissertation]: Hacettepe University, Ankara; 2020.
21. Doğan T. Sosyal Görünüş Kaygısı Ölçeği’nin (SGKÖ) Türkçe uyarlaması: geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi. 2010;39(39):151-9.
22. Ergüney-Okumuş FE, Sertel-Berk HÖ. Yeme Tutum Testi Kısa Formunun (YTT-26) üniversite örnekleminde türkçeye uyarlanması ve psikometrik özelliklerinin değerlendirilmesi. Psikoloji Çalışmaları / Studies in Psychology. 2020:57-78. DOI: 10.26650/sp2019-0039
23. Bozan N, Bas M, Asci FH. Psychometric properties of Turkish version of Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ). A preliminary results. Appetite. 2011;56(3):564-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2011.01.025
24. Ergun S, Akca E, Yanartas O, et al. The psychological determinants of emotional and external eating behavior in a university student sample from Turkey. Psihologija. 2023;56(2):239-57. DOI: 10.2298/ PSI210713021E
25. Öztürk A, Limnili G, Kartal M. Association between eating disorder risk and family structure and social appearance anxiety among college freshman. Alpha Psychol. 2021;23(1):27-32. DOI: 10.5152/ alphapsychiatry.2022.21229
26. Mahn HM, Lordly D. A review of eating disorders and disordered eating amongst nutrition students and dietetic professionals. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2015;76(1):38-43. DOI: 10.3148/cjdpr-2014-031
27. Budhiwianto S, Bennett CJ, Bristow CA, et al. Global prevalence of eating disorders in nutrition and dietetic university students: A systematic scoping review. Nutrients. 2023;15(10):2317. DOI: 10.3390/nu15102317
28. Jankauskiene R, Baceviciene M. Media pressures, internalization of appearance ideals and disordered eating among adolescent girls and boys: testing the moderating role of body appreciation. Nutrients. 2022;14(11):2227. DOI: 10.3390/nu14112227
29. Zhong Y. The influence of social media on body image disturbance induced by appearance anxiety in female college students. Psychiatr Danub. 2022;34(suppl 2):638-45. DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1529_20
30. Mohsenpour MA, Karamizadeh M, Barati-Boldaji R, et al. Structural equation modeling of direct and indirect associations of social media addiction with eating behavior in adolescents and young adults. Sci Rep. 2023;13(1):3044. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29961-7

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Eating Behaviours

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Gökçe Ünal ^*
0000-0002-9657-2358
Türkiye

Melahat Sedanur Macit Çelebi
0000-0002-7480-1586
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

September 9, 2025

Publication Date

October 1, 2025

Submission Date

July 5, 2025

Acceptance Date

July 21, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 16 Number: 4

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31067/acusaglik.1732527

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA89WF82SW

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

EndNote

Ünal G, Macit Çelebi MS (October 1, 2025) Physical Appearance Comparison on Social Media and Social Appearance Anxiety: Relationship with Eating Disorder Risk among Nutrition and Dietetics Students. Acıbadem Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi 16 4 623–629.