Social media plays significant and a very impactful role in our lives these days. It has become a major tool of interaction, information broadcast, and platform for providing choices and also making choices. A lot of things that we use or consume or dream of have been affected by what we see on social media.
Social media is so much important in our lives these days that it engages customers’ minds completely and hell-bents them to buy and consume these products. And the biggest target of social media is students and teenagers. As the products are marketed showing that they have high nutrition value, young kids get highly influenced and without even bothering to check they start consuming them, which sometimes may put them to risk of gaining weight, hypertension, and other lifestyle diseases.
Students get attracted by what they see on social media. It has been researched that more calories are eaten by kids who view more unhealthy snacks than the other kids who either don’t spend much time on social media or watch healthy foods and view images of fruits and vegetables.
Regards to students’ dietary choices, Dietitian Rajat Jain, Founder & Director of Health Wealth Diet Clinic explains that health has four pillars – food, activity, sleep and stress, but nowadays health seems to have 5 pillars including social media/screen time. This social media addiction of people is increasing day by day and it is impacting individuals’ health badly. People are getting attracted to junk food because of pictures and videos shown on their screens and avoiding good nutritious food from home. Also, so-called healthy food from outside is mostly selling refined flour just by showing one slice of tomato and the example is a veg burger.
Be smart and make good choices in food, limit screen time or social media time and give a gift of better health to yourself because health is wealth.
Visibility is the prime key to the successful selling of a product. Social media completely works on this principle to regulate the food choices of teenagers and students. All the packaged foods, aerated drinks, health supplements and other such stuff are so much visible on social media that they tend to impact the mind and choices of students of today who spend most of their time on social media platforms like Facebook, and Instagram etc.
Not only does the social medium influence food choices, but it also advertises so much about fit and lean bodies which tempts teenagers. In awe of looking slim and attractive, they indulge in dieting culture and start consuming proteins and other supplements without consulting an expert. This proves fatal in the long run and leads to eating disorders and poor health and performance. Also, a lot of celebrities influence these teenagers and they get carried away and buy those products or make choices depending upon what is being advertised by these big shots. They fail to understand that this is merely a marketing gimmick of these companies to advertise their products which may not be as healthy or beneficial as stated. Let alone teenagers, even the small kids keep demanding those milk supplements or food items which they come across on social media to get fitter and healthier.
What they see on tv, Facebook, and Instagram, as products that will make them smarter and more intelligent than the other kids, impresses them so much that they force their parents to buy them. Parents of this fast-moving world even without thinking or consulting an expert get these, just to make their kids happy.
In a nutshell, we can state that social media has a very great impact on today‘s youth. We could build a healthier and more efficient society by using this tool more effectively towards the promotion of healthier food options than junk ones .exposure to healthy food items like fruits, vegetables, healthy snacks and non-fried snacks surely helps in shifting choices from unhealthy options to beneficial ones. Health professionals can play an important role in this field by educating the students, their parents and their families about the correct eating habits and right food choices.
Also, they can guide them not to get carried away by advertisements, and sensibly use the information provided by social media after getting a piece of advice from experts. The main idea is to build a healthier and more efficient youth. The youth is the future of the nation and hence the future lies in the healthy habits of our kids and adolescents because we all know that What we do and how we behave is directly dependent upon what we eat.
About the Author:
Dietitian Rajat Jain
is the Founder & Director of Health Wealth Diet Clinic, the leading nutrition and weight loss clinic in North West India as recommended by numerous fitness platforms. Dr Rajat is a weight loss expert, clinical & sports nutritionist and certified diabetes & wellness educator. He is one of the most trusted and award-winning dietitians in North-West India.
With his experience of more than 5+ years including working with reputed hospitals and fitness centres, Rajat has positively influenced the health of over 7000+ people from different walks of life. Rajat enjoys his distinctiveness of being affiliated with various fitness centres and gyms across West India where he works with the members as a nutrition and diet consultant and engages with their workout and performance on the floor, which offers him a deep understanding of his client’s unique level of nutritional response towards their body.
Dt. Rajat Jain has been awarded 5 times in a row as the ‘Best Dietitian in Rajasthan’ and ranked among the ‘Top 10 Most Promising Dietitians in India’. Among various associations, he also works with the Rajasthan Police Academy and Rajasthan Royals Colts & Sparks as their official and consulting sports nutritionist.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a health advice. We would ask you to consult a qualified professional or medical expert to gain additional knowledge before you choose to consume any product or perform any exercise.
