Health threats of new social media trends: the effects of frequent mukbang watching on overweight and obesity

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mukbang is defined as a show that can be pre-recorded or live streamed in which an individual eats a large quantity of food for the viewer. The trend began in South Korea in 2008 and has become a global phenomenon. Some argue that watching mukbang can lead to overweight and obesity, however there are few studies that have fully investigated this. This study estimates the effects of frequent mukbang watching on overweight and obesity among Korean adults using individual-level quasi-panel data from the 2018, 2019, and 2020 Consumer Behaviour Survey for Food conducted by the Korea Rural Economic Institute. The instrumental variable is used to address the endogeneity problem. The results show that frequent mukbang watching increases the likelihood of being overweight by 7.4–7.6%. As a result, the government should consider informational campaigns for awareness and/or introduce regulations on mukbang to prevent and reduce the associated risks leading to overweight.