Regularly watching social media videos of what people are eating in a day can be dangerous for your health, according to a clinical psychologist.
Catherine Houlihan has revealed that these types of videos can spread harmful messages about food, weight and body image.
In some cases, ‘what I eat in a day’ videos can push people closer to developing an eating disorder or worsening one they already have.
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Gaining in popularity over the last 10 years, these clips can reach billions of accounts around the world.
Social media users posting what they eat in a day rarely have formal qualifications in health or nutrition, meaning they could be spreading misinformation.
Typically, they promote low calorie diets and clean eating, as well as encouraging skipping meals, using laxatives to purge food and eating very little.
Unrealistic body image can also be spread in ‘what I eat in a day’ videos because they often have beauty filters added to the clips.
“A 24-hour rundown of one person’s food intake doesn’t even provide accurate information about that person’s nutritional health – let alone yours,” said Catherine.
Each person has different nutritional needs, therefore even if you eat the same thing as someone else, it can impact you differently.
Factors that affect what is healthy for a person include their environment, medical history, age and genetics.
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In addition, what you enjoy eating and how much energy you use can also help determine what food is suitable for you.
Experts are urging people to not base their food intake off these ‘what I eat in a day’ videos because it could leave you worse off overall.
These videos can affect your mental health. People should stop watching this content if they are experiencing disordered eating, low moods, poor body image, obsessive thinking and anxiety and a narrow life focus.
If you are consistently experiencing these symptoms, you should seek help from your local GP or a medical professional.
