Influence of Social Media Networks on Health and Lifestyle Pattern among Adolescent Girls during the COVID Pandemic

Late adolescence is the period of growth between the age group of 18 and 24 years which is the time of frequent change and exploration. So, Social media use by these late adolescents , are currently more as spending most of their waking hours using social media, neglecting real time interactions and the rest of their duties . In this COVID - 19 pandemic, as all are working as well as learning from home due to spread of disease, social media usage was increased. Hence the study was undertaken with the objective to assess the health and lifestyle changes due to screen use among the late adolescent girls. The study comprised of 100 late adolescent girls whose age group was between 18 and 24 years. A questionnaire comprising details on the use of social media applications, anthropometric measurements, dietary and lifestyle practices were created as Google form and it was sent through WhatsApp and e- mail. Educational material was designed and sessions were conducted to create awareness among the study participants. The findings of the study revealed that the there was an increase in the bodyweight of girls at overweight and obese category due to over use of electronic gadgets (mobile phones) without any movements, high intake of meals and snacks; because of study and work from home. Also their sleeping pattern was changed because of usage of social media which delays sleep. And 84 percent of the respondents had health and mental disturbances due to screen usage. They also felt social media has been sometimes filled with unwanted news and also addiction towards its usage makes feel stressed. Awareness was given to decrease their screen time and improve sleep and health by balancing the use of social media applications such as fixing time for use, not using before sleep and in-between sleep by turning the devices to switch off airplane mode and practice of no mobile day on a day of the week were all the practical measures.