The Effects of Social Media on Food Intake and Behaviour

University of Prince Edward Island

Status: Completed

Conditions: Hunger; Sedentary Lifestyle; Eating

Treatments: Behavioral: Facebook; Behavioral: Colouring; Behavioral: Facebook + Food

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02948816

6006850

Details and patient eligibility

About

Participants will be exposed to 3 conditions, in random order:

1. A Facebook page where 70% of posts are related to food.
2. A Facebook page where only 20% of posts are related to food.
3. A control condition (colouring quietly).

During each of the above conditions participants will be provided with identical snacks. The snacks will be weighed before and after each condition, to determine whether there is a change in food intake across the 3 conditions.

Enrollment: 10 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 25 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age 18-25.

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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10 participants in 3 patient groups

Facebook

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will spend 30 minutes interacting with a Facebook page that is made up of 20% food-related posts, and 80% non food-related posts (news, sports, etc). They will be provided with bowls of snacks, which will be weighed before and after their session.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Facebook

Facebook + Food

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will spend 30 minutes interacting with a Facebook page that is made up of 70% food-related posts, and 30% non food-related posts (news, sports, etc). They will be provided with bowls of snacks, which will be weighed before and after their session.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Facebook + Food

Colouring

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will spend 30 minutes colouring. They will be provided with bowls of snacks, which will be weighed before and after their session.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Colouring