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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Public Health and Nutrition

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1683764

Determining the Relationship of Food Neophobia, Digital Addiction, Body Image Perception on Social Media with Dietary Inflammatory Index Among Adolescents

Provisionally accepted
Rumeysa  AlbayrakRumeysa Albayrak1Yağmur  Demirel OzbekYağmur Demirel Ozbek2*
  • 1TC Uskudar Universitesi, Üsküdar, Türkiye
  • 2Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Türkiye

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: Adolescence is a critical period in which both physical and psychological development accelerates and foundational dietary behaviors are established. This study aims to examine the relationships of food neophobia, digital addiction, body image perception on social media with the dietary inflammatory index (DII) among high school adolescents. Method: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted with a total of 354 high school students, including 200 females and 154 males. Data were collected through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. The questionnaire included sections on general information, dietary habits, the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS), the Child and Adolescent Digital Addiction Scale (CADAS), the Appearance-Related Social Media Consciousness Scale (ASMC), and a 3-day dietary intake record. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 25. Results: The mean DII score was 3.23 ± 1.66, the mean FNS score was 38.33 ± 10.81, the mean CADAS score was 35.82 ± 11.53, and the mean ASMC score was 41.31 ± 17.71. Participants who skipped meals had significantly higher DII, CADAS, and ASMC scores (p < 0.05). Regular breakfast consumption was associated with lower DII and CADAS scores (p < 0.05). A positive correlation was found between DII and CADAS, as well as between CADAS and ASMC. FNS scores showed a negative correlation with CADAS only among female participants. Conclusions: To support healthy adolescent development and mitigate the risks posed by the digital age, it is recommended to design and implement comprehensive intervention programs based on school, family, and individual levels, utilizing multidisciplinary approaches.

Keywords: nutrition, adolescents, food neophobia, Digital Addiction, Dietary InflammatoryIndex, Social Media

Received: 11 Aug 2025; Accepted: 10 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Albayrak and Demirel Ozbek. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Yağmur Demirel Ozbek, yagmur.demirel@erdogan.edu.tr

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