A healthy eater is a social eater
By: Serial Killers, Quantum, Disease, Sq D
Tags: Mukbang, Health, Eater, Social

Maybe mukbang videos are good for something after all

By Bryant Cao

We know that we need to eat to survive, but sometimes it seems like the poor diet is what’s killing us. Malnutrition is everywhere. And in America, it’s not that we’re all starving to death but rather that we’re eating too much of the “wrong” things. There are so many foods out there that are jam-packed with calories and not much else which makes addressing malnutrition hard.

The college student eating ramen again in their dorm. The 9-to-5 worker deciding to get fast food for the third day in a row. The single parent microwaving another frozen meal after finally having a moment of peace at night. You catching up on your shows late at night with a tub of ice cream.

It’s a simple fact that what we eat has impacts on how we feel, but why is it so difficult for a single person to make a change?

Maybe the issue is that there is only a single person. It’s easier to fall into the trap of not eating as well as we could be when no one is there to hold us accountable. We’re a socially isolated generation with our own reasons for eating alone (difficulties in coordinating schedules, enjoyment of peace and quiet, avoidance of social interaction). Eating is just a part of the day where we put food in our bodies and move on, but it might be important to consider what we’re eating.

And looking at the overall image of what we’re eating — the dietary quality — was what Wonjeong Chae and her team were observing among Korean adults. In their study, Chae used Korean nutritional survey data of over 8000 adults to match what the adults were eating in comparison to what the Korean nutritional guidelines were. To make things more interesting, the survey also indicated whether the adults always ate alone, sometimes ate alone, or never ate alone.

The big finding? “People who eat alone have nutrition intake below the recommended amount. This could lead to serious health problems not only to those who are socially disadvantaged but also those who are in a higher social stratum.” Chae reports in her conclusion. The full study digs into the specifics like the study group and aspects of the socioeconomic status, and it seems that eating alone is the culprit behind poor dietary quality regardless of your age, gender, or status.

While this isn’t a study that dictates how everyone’s dietary quality is, the conclusions make logical sense. Other people who care about us — family, significant others, friends — play a role in keeping our diets in check. A teenager might consider eating mac and cheese for the fifth meal in a row if their mom told them to stop. A parent who eats with their children probably considers dietary quality much more highly than a busy college student who lives alone. A working couple would need to consider the health of themselves and their partner as a part of their relationship.

So maybe the first step is gathering some health-conscious people to eat with. It might work if every person in the group is judging what the others are eating. However, there’s probably a more efficient way to make better choices: identity what the better choices are first.

“Our study is highly recommended to policy-makers to utilize it as evidence to develop and improve social welfare services for the general population,” Chae concludes.

Chae’s conclusion relies on the government to make the decisions behind the scenes to help out the public, but the information to make healthier dietary choices is readily available. The US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture constantly dig through medical research to curate recommendations for a healthy lifestyle. All of these recommendations, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, are updated every five years to stay up to date with new information. The first step in solving a problem should be to identify what the problem is, and these reference materials are a helpful first start.

These recommendations are broad but are generalized for a reason: to accommodate everyone’s lifestyle. One’s health is expensive, and it might seem like you need to buy the healthiest options, but there is no one true way to eat. Ideally, you should work towards a healthy dietary pattern in whatever approach is suitable for you, and you might find that these guidelines are easier to follow with the support of others. While not tested, eating your meal while watching mukbang videos online of people eating healthy food might be helpful for the health-conscious social eater who would prefer to avoid social interaction.