The Effect of Technology Addiction on Eating Behaviors and Physical Activity of Adolescents

This study attempts to determine the effect of technology addictions such as social media, digital games, and smartphones on adolescents’ physical activity and eating behaviors. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 437 adolescents studying 9–12th grades of 6 high schools affiliated with the Provincial Directorate of National Education of a province in the Central Anatolia Region of Türkiye. There is a relationship between technology addiction, cognitive restriction, emotional and uncontrolled eating behaviors, and adolescent physical activity levels. Smartphone and social media addiction significantly predict adolescents’ cognitive restriction and emotional and uncontrolled eating behaviors. Smartphone addiction contributes the most to explaining adolescents’ physical activity levels and emotional and uncontrolled eating behaviors. In this study, social media addiction largely explained the cognitive constraint of eating behavior. As a result, there is a relationship between various technology addictions and adolescents’ eating behaviors and physical activity levels, and it affects them negatively in general