Social Media Use, Food Craving and Ultra Processed Food Consumption in Students

NCT07103811 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: Sedef Güngör-Atılım-03
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 150
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Social media can increase unhealthy eating habits by influencing individuals' desire to eat, especially through images and advertisements of ultra-processed foods. One of the groups most affected by this situation is university students who use social media intensively. Therefore, examining the relationship between social media use and ultra-processed food consumption is important in terms of developing healthy eating awareness.

Conditions

Food Craving; Ultra Processed Food; Social Media

Keywords

Food craving; Ultra processed food; Social media

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Evaluation of the correlation between social media use and ultra-processed food consumption in university students

  Questions about students' social media use (duration of use, exposure to nutrients, etc.) will be collected with a questionnaire form. In order to evaluate ultra-processed food consumption, 'short screening questionnaire of highly processed food consumption (sQ-HPF)' will be applied. There are 11 items in the scale. For each question, the participants will be asked to tick one of the yes or no answers. The score that can be obtained from the scale varies between 0 and 11. There is no reverse item in the scale. Each yes is evaluated as 1 point. 6 points and above is considered as high processed food consumption.

  Up to one month

• Evaluation of the correlation between Social Media Use and Food Craving in University Students

  Questions about students' social media use (duration of use, exposure to foods, etc.) will be collected with a questionnaire form. 'Food Craving Questionnaire Short Form (FCQT-R)' will be used to evaluate the desire to eat. The scale consists of 15 questions and includes a 6-point scale ranging from "Never" (1) to "Always" (6). The scale has a score range of 15-90. A low score indicates a low food craving experience, while a high score indicates a high food craving experience.

  Up to one month

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: all
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The population of this study consisted of male and female university students aged between 18 and 25 years studying in Ankara.

You may qualify if:

• To be between the ages of 18-25
• To reside in Ankara
• Being a university student
• Volunteering
• No communication problems

You may not qualify if:

• Under 18 years of age and over 25 years of age
• Persons who are not university students
• Those who do not reside in Ankara
• Those with communication problems
• Having any psychological disorder

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Atılım University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Atılım University

Ankara, Turkey (Türkiye)

RECRUITING

Related Publications (8)

• Aleid S, Alshahrani NZ, Alsedrah S, Carvalho AB, Lima MJ, Teixeira-Lemos E, Raposo A. The Role of Social Media Advertisement and Physical Activity on Eating Behaviors among the General Population in Saudi Arabia. Nutrients. 2024 Apr 19;16(8):1215. doi: 10.3390/nu16081215.

  PMID: 38674905 BACKGROUND

• Filippone L, Shankland R, Hallez Q. The relationships between social media exposure, food craving, cognitive impulsivity and cognitive restraint. J Eat Disord. 2022 Nov 25;10(1):184. doi: 10.1186/s40337-022-00698-4.

  PMID: 36434703 BACKGROUND

• Cheikh Ismail L, Osaili TM, Naja F, Wartanian M, Elkabat G, Arnous M, Alkoukou H, Mohamad MN, Saleh ST, Al Daour R, Masuadi E, Ali HI, Stojanovska L, Al Dhaheri AS. The association of social media with dietary behaviors among adults in the United Arab Emirates. Heliyon. 2024 Jul 31;10(15):e35574. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35574. eCollection 2024 Aug 15.

  PMID: 39166066 BACKGROUND

• Fondevila-Gascon JF, Berbel-Gimenez G, Vidal-Portes E, Hurtado-Galarza K. Ultra-Processed Foods in University Students: Implementing Nutri-Score to Make Healthy Choices. Healthcare (Basel). 2022 May 25;10(6):984. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10060984.

  PMID: 35742036 BACKGROUND

• Cepeda-Benito A, Gleaves DH, Fernandez MC, Vila J, Williams TL, Reynoso J. The development and validation of Spanish versions of the State and Trait Food Cravings Questionnaires. Behav Res Ther. 2000 Nov;38(11):1125-38. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00141-2.

  PMID: 11060941 BACKGROUND

• Meule A, Hermann T, Kubler A. A short version of the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait: the FCQ-T-reduced. Front Psychol. 2014 Mar 4;5:190. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00190. eCollection 2014.

  PMID: 24624116 BACKGROUND

• Martinez-Perez C, Daimiel L, Climent-Mainar C, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Salas-Salvado J, Corella D, Schroder H, Martinez JA, Alonso-Gomez AM, Warnberg J, Vioque J, Romaguera D, Lopez-Miranda J, Estruch R, Tinahones FJ, Lapetra J, Serra-Majem L, Bueno-Cavanillas A, Tur JA, Sanchez VM, Pinto X, Delgado-Rodriguez M, Matia-Martin P, Vidal J, Vazquez C, Ros E, Basterra J, Babio N, Guillem-Saiz P, Zomeno MD, Abete I, Vaquero-Luna J, Baron-Lopez FJ, Gonzalez-Palacios S, Konieczna J, Garcia-Rios A, Bernal-Lopez MR, Santos-Lozano JM, Bes-Rastrollo M, Khoury N, Saiz C, Perez-Vega KA, Zulet MA, Tojal-Sierra L, Ruiz ZV, Martinez MA, Malcampo M, Ordovas JM, San-Cristobal R. Integrative development of a short screening questionnaire of highly processed food consumption (sQ-HPF). Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2022 Jan 24;19(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s12966-021-01240-6.

  PMID: 35073909 BACKGROUND

• Erdogan Govez N, Koksal E, Martinez-Perez C, Daimiel L. Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Screening Questionnaire of Highly Processed Food Consumption (sQ-HPF). Nutrients. 2024 Aug 3;16(15):2552. doi: 10.3390/nu16152552.

  PMID: 39125430 BACKGROUND

Central Study Contacts

Sedef Güngör

CONTACT

+905379561862; sedefglsz@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE ONLY
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 29, 2025
• First Posted: August 5, 2025
• Study Start: April 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2025
• Study Completion: August 15, 2025
• Last Updated: August 5, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Locations

TU (1)