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Hassan Alwafi,1,2 Reham Alwafi,3 Abdallah Y Naser,4 Mohammed Samannodi,1 Dalia Aboraya,5 Emad Salawati,6 Afnan Alqurashi,7 Rakan Ekram,8 Abdullah R Alzahrani,1 Abdulelah M Aldhahir,9 Hamza Assaggaf,10 Mohammed Almatrafi11 1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Al-Abidiyah, P.O.Box 13578, Makkah 21955 Saudi Arabia; 2Al-Noor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Isra University, Amman, Jordan; 5Faculty of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 7Independent Researcher, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 8School of Public Health and Health Informatics, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 9Respiratory Therapy Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 10Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 11Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Hassan Alwafi, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Al-Abidiyah, P.O. Box 13578, Makkah, 21955, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966 555544319, Email hhwafi@uqu.edu.saBackground: Previous studies investigating the impact of social media influencers on food consumption are limited. Therefore, this study explores the influence of social media on people’s health choices to understand the consequences of food consumption among the Saudi community.Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted in Saudi Arabia between 24 June and 20 July 2021. A convenience sample of eligible participants was used to recruit the study participants. A 32-items questionnaire was distributed via social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram). In addition, significant predictors of people being affected by social media to change diet and living with obesity were determined using binary logistic regression.Results: A total of 1124 participants were involved in this study. More than half of them (57.8%) were females and aged below 40 years (57.4%). The study participants’ median body mass index (BMI) was 27.4 kg/m2 (IQR: 23.5– 32.5). Around one-third of the study participants (36.6%) reported following influencers on social media. The median attitude score for the study participants was 15.00 (IQR: 1.00– 27.00) out of 72, equal to 20.8%, which highlights that social media influence the diet of around one-fifth of the study participants. Males were less likely to be affected by social media than females (OR: 0.51; (95% CI: 0.40– 0.65). Participants with obesity and participants who had tried a diet to lose weight were more likely to be affected by social media, with odds ratios of 2.14, and 4.83, respectively. Followers of social media influencers were 10-folds more likely to be affected by social media than others.Conclusion: This study showed that social media might influence the food consumption manner in the Saudi population.Keywords: social media, obesity, food consumption, Saudi Arabia, Twitter, Snapchat |
