Social media and eating habits: A study on the relationship between digital consumption and eating behavior

Social media plays a fundamental role in shaping eating habits, especially among young people, since their use through digital platforms has transformed the way they access information about nutrition, recipes, diets, and healthy lifestyles. Constant exposure to visual content and messages related to food directly influences daily decisions about what, how, and when to eat. The study aimed to establish the relationship of social media with eating habits in university students from a private university in the city of Huancayo, located in the Junín region of Peru. The research was basic under a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional section, the population was made up of 311 university students enrolled in the 2025-I academic period. The results were processed through structural equations using the Jamovi program. These results indicate a high degree of relationship between the study variables, given that the Spearman Rho correlation coefficient was 0.832 and 0.000 as the significance level, demonstrating a strong, positive relationship. The study concluded that there was a strong, significant relationship between the dimensions of the social media use variable (network use, platform type, social interaction, and personal and social impact) and eating habits.