Social Media Usage and the Development of Eating Disorders among Secondary School Adolescents in Ikeja, Lagos
Ajuzie Nnenna Choice1, Ogun Ireti B1, Ogbonnaya Faith Chidiebube2, Ukangwa Ngozi Angela2, Omotoye Ayodeji A1, Awoyinka Rachael I3, Emmanuel Godspresence C.
ABSTRACT
Eating disorders has been argued and characterized to been more prevalent in “developed” countries because of their beauty standard emphasis on thinness, it has been proposed that these “developed” countries with a higher prevalence of eating disorders shape developing countries into the development of eating disorders. The main objective of this research is to assess social media usage and the development of eating disorders among secondary school adolescents in Ikeja, Lagos using a cross- sectional study design and 232 respondents were selected for the study. Majority of the respondents (69.0%) were female and 31.0% were male of respondents. Less than average of the respondents (34.1%) were 15 years of age, while 4.7% were 18 years of age. More than average of the respondents (51.7%) Public Secondary School while the least percentage (48.3%) were in Private Secondary School. Majority of the respondents had normal Body Mass Index (70.3%), 20.3% were overweight, 9.5% obese and 0.4% underweight. Almost all the respondents (93.5%) use social media platforms above 30mins and 6.5% used social media platforms below 30mins while more than quarter of the respondents use Whatsapp (46.6%), Tiktok (27.2%) and Snapchat (28.9%) 5 or more times a day. 54 respondents (23.3%) scored positive (scored ≥ 20) on the EAT-26 thus representing the prevalence rate of eating disorder. There is significant relationship between social media usage and awareness of the calorie content of the food (p=0.01).
Key words= Eating Disorders, Adolescents, social media
