UNHEALTHY FOOD DEPICTION IN THE POSTS OF LITHUANIA'S MOST POPULAR INFLUENCERS ON INSTAGRAM

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the depiction of unhealthy food in the posts of the most popular Lithuanian Instagram influencers, according to the social and demographic characteristics of the influencers and the characteristics of their posts.
Materials and methods. In this study, all (2265) publicly available Instagram posts of ten most popular Lithuanian influencers published in 2022 were analyzed. The chi-square (χ2) test was used to assess the distribution of the posts according to the gender, age, followers, number of reactions to and comments on the posts, type and the publication time of posts.
Results. Food was depicted in 624 (27.6%) posts. Sweets were depicted in 248 (11.0%), fast food – in 78 (3.4%) and fried food – in 415 (18.3%) posts. Female influencers more frequently depicted sweets and fried foods in their posts (respectively, 12.3% vs. 7.3%, 22.2% vs. 7.8%, p≤0.05). Older influencers more frequently depicted sweets, fast food and fried foods (respectively, 14.6% vs. 6.2%, 4.1% vs. 2.6%, 26.3% vs. 7.7%, p≤0.05). Posts depicting sweets, fast food and fried food received relatively less reactions (respectively, 15.6% vs. 6.3%, 4.3% vs. 2.6%, 29.3% vs. 7.3%, p≤0.050). Posts depicting sweets, fast food, and fried food were relatively more likely to be published in video format (respectively, 16.7% vs. 9.3%, 4.7% vs. 2.8%, 31.5% vs. 14.8%, p≤0.05).
Conclusions. Food was depicted in every fourth post of the most popular Lithuanian influencers on Instagram. The prevalence of different unhealthy foods varied from few in one hundred to one in five posts. Female and older influencers depicted unhealthy foods more frequently. Posts depicting unhealthy foods received fewer reactions and more frequently were published in video format.