Posting food photos on Instagram can help with healthy eating, new study suggest
Those pictures of sophisticated dishes and elaborate plating that turn up on Instagram could actually lead to a healthier diet. Researchers from Washington University conducted a study which highlighted that the millions of food photos posted on this particular social media platform actually help with tracking calories intake and hold people accountable for their dietary habits.
There are several studies showing and underlining the negative impact that social media sites can have on users, but a new research focuses on the support system that such platforms can create. In this particular case, scientists from Washington University wanted to see what purpose all the photos posted on Instagram really have when it comes to dieting.
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In a recently published paper, researchers argue that many people have appropriated social media and online communities in their pursuit of personal health goals, such as healthy eating or increased physical activity.
For those looking to count their calories intake, the “snap a photo and post” activity is much more fun and less stressful than writing a food diary. For others, a panoramic look back on the food photos, can help spot potential dietary problems.
“When you only have one data point for a pizza or donut, it’s easy to rationalize that away as a special occasion,” said senior author Sean Munson, assistant professor of human centered design and engineering at the UW, in an article.“But when you see a whole tiled grid of them, you have to say to yourself, ‘Wait, I don’t actually have that many special days.”
The Instagram users interviewed by Washington University researchers said that while the posting part was fun, the images and the comments coming from friends and families offered an additional support and it also made them be more honest. And since there is an entire section on Instagram that can be dedicated to food diaries, people can choose what they want to know about a person.
“With Instagram, it helped me because I was taking a picture of it — it’s real and it does exist and it does count towards what I was eating. And then putting up a visual image of it really helped me stay honest,” the user said.
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And according to participants, food photos made their jobs of tracking what they ate much more socially acceptable.
“If I was out with friends or something, then a quick snapshot of the food would be easier than saying, ‘Hold on guys, I need to pull up MyFitnessPal and put everything down and the right serving size,” another subject told the researchers.
Scientists also found that accountability is higher with using social media as interviewees said that they felt they owed to pursue their health goals not only to themselves, but also to others.
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