Eungyeong Kim
Greater loneliness was associated with more frequent mukbang viewing. Mukbang viewing was positively associated with both late-night eating and fast-food consumption. Loneliness also showed significant direct associations with both unhealthy eating behaviors. Small but statistically significant indirect effects of loneliness on late-night eating and fast-food consumption through mukbang viewing were observed, indicating partial mediation.
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether mukbang and cookbang viewing (online eating broadcast videos and related food content) mediates the association between loneliness and unhealthy eating behaviors among adolescents.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional secondary data analysis using mediation modeling.
SETTING: A nationwide survey of middle and high schools in South Korea.
PARTICIPANTS: Adolescents (n = 51,850) who participated in the 2022 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dependent variables: late-night eating and fast-food consumption; independent variable: loneliness; mediator: frequency of mukbang viewing; covariates: demographic characteristics.
ANALYSIS: A single mediator model with 5,000 bootstrap samples was used to estimate the direct and indirect effects, adjusting for demographic covariates.
RESULTS: Greater loneliness was associated with more frequent mukbang viewing. Mukbang viewing was positively associated with both late-night eating and fast-food consumption. Loneliness also showed significant direct associations with both unhealthy eating behaviors. Small but statistically significant indirect effects of loneliness on late-night eating and fast-food consumption through mukbang viewing were observed, indicating partial mediation.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Mukbang viewing partially mediated the association between loneliness and unhealthy eating behaviors, although the indirect effects were small. These findings support considering emotionally linked media use in efforts to understand adolescent dietary behaviors.