Gender Differences in Use of Social Media for Health‐related Information

Abstract

BACKGROUNDSocial media may be a useful tool in modifying health‐related behaviors; however, there is limited research on college students' use of health‐related social media and whether those behaviors vary by gender.METHODSIncoming first year students at eight universities were invited to complete screening surveys to determine if they were eligible to participate in Get Fruved, a study designed to decrease risk for unwanted weight gain. Eligible students (n=857) completed extensive health surveys and anthropometric measurements. Surveys included questions on social media usage and demographics. Pearson's Chi‐square tests were used to find differences in use of social media by gender.RESULTSMost participants (76.2% of females and 51.0% of males) reported they used social media to find health‐related information at least a couple of times a month, but only 10.2% of females and 4.4% of males reported using it more than four times per week. Increased time spent on social media was associated with increased use of social media to find health‐related information (p = .050) and reporting that social media impacted their view of nutrition (p = .017). Females were more likely than men to spend more time on social media (p = .003), use social media to find health‐related information (p < .001), and to report that social media impacted their view of nutrition (p < .001).CONCLUSIONResearchers need to determine if exposing college students to health‐related social media will influence behavior differently by gender.Support or Funding InformationThis abstract is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2014‐67001‐21851.