Modeling the effect of health antecedents and social media engagement on healthy eating and quality of life

Healthy eating is an important health-promoting behavior and maintenance of this behavior has repercussions for long-term quality of life (QoL). Given that psychographic factors are important predictors of engaging in health-promoting behaviors and social media can aid in developing self-regulation skills, the purpose of this study was to model the impact of (1) health consciousness and attitude, and (2) health disclosure and engagement with social media, on healthy eating intention. Furthermore, the impact of intention was examined on healthy eating maintenance and subsequent QoL. Five hundred and thirty-two U.S. adults completed quantitative assessments of health consciousness, attitude, social media health disclosure and engagement, healthy eating intention and maintenance, and QoL. Findings showed that beliefs, attitude, and social media engagement with respect to healthy eating significantly predicted behavioral intention and subsequently healthy eating maintenance and QoL. Theoretical contributions and implications for public health interventions are discussed.