While breakfast is often said to be the most important meal of the day, a Brock researcher says many teens are skipping it altogether — and their behaviour may be linked to increased social media use.

Applied Health Sciences PhD student Rita Kocsis’ (BPH ’23, MSc ‘25) explored how social media may shape the morning eating habits of young Canadians in her master’s thesis.

“Adolescents spend an increasing amount of time on social media, and this stage of life is so influential. They’re developing habits that might persist into adulthood,” she says.

Applied Health Sciences PhD student Rita Kocsis (BPH ’23, MSc ’25)

Kocsis first became interested in adolescent health research after meeting Associate Professor of Health Sciences Karen Patte, who is also Brock’s Canada Research Chair in Child Health Equity and Inclusion, while completing her Bachelor of Public Health degree.

Under the co-supervision of Patte and Professor of Applied Health  Sciences William Pickett, with additional guidance of Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Samantha Hajna, Kocsis analyzed data from two major studies that examine youth health behaviours in Canada for her master’s research:

The Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, Sedentary behaviour (COMPASS) study co-led by Patte, which collects data on Grade 7 to 12 students across Canada.

The cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, for which Pickett is the co-investigator, that is collecting data on the health, well-being and social contexts of young people aged 11 to 15.

“I found that 64 per cent of young Canadians reported skipping breakfast at least once per week, and 40 per cent said they have followed a diet promoted on social media in the last 12 months,” she says. “I then looked at social media use and how it affects adolescents’ breakfast skipping behaviours. The more time adolescents spent on social media, the more often they skipped breakfast.”

When looking at the link between social media use and breakfast skipping, she says that following diets promoted on social media partly explained this relationship among cisgender girls

“Girls may be more affected by weight-centric content and body image pressures online. When you start looking at diets on social media, the algorithm keeps feeding you more diet-related content, which may influence how you see yourself and your dietary habits,” she says.

Kocsis’ findings underscore social media’s powerful influence on adolescent health behaviours.

“It’s very important to pay attention to how these platforms affect adolescent health behaviours,” she says. “When adolescents are at such an influenceable stage of life, we need to understand what they’re being exposed to.”

According to Kocsis, the findings provide epidemiological evidence that could support critical evaluation of social media literacy initiatives, school-based programs and educational campaigns focusing on proper nutrition and healthy eating behaviours. They may also inform policies that regulate unhealthy food advertising and the types of content individuals post and share on social media.

“I think it’s a very important time to look at these things,” she says. “If we can draw attention to this public health issue, maybe we can help young Canadians build better habits for life.”