Feeding Kids Isn't as Easy as Instagram Says

While social media perpetuates unrealistic standards of mealtimes, it fails to portray the reality of cranky toddlers, tired mums, scattered ingredients and messy kitchens

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Many families find feeding children a constant challenge. A favourite food is suddenly refused, someone is grumpy after a long day and siblings fight at the table. But if parents and caregivers are turning to social media for advice, it may do more harm than good. Because there, feeding kids looks downright easy.

A new research found Instagram is flooded with highly polished content that can perpetuate unrealistic standards of mealtimes. This could be adding to the frustration and guilt many caregivers already face.

Instagram adds to the pressure Parents face many pressures when it comes to feeding their kids, but little is known about how social media may be contributing to these pressures.

To find out how family meals are portrayed on social media, researchers looked at a popular platform, Instagram. With about 2 billion users, Instagram proffers a seemingly endless carousel of images and videos related to food, cooking and eating.

For their study, the researchers downloaded the top 15 posts from the hashtags #familymeals, #familybreakfast, #familylunch and #familydinner every week for 14 weeks from February to May 2024 to analyse what was being posted.

Lots of 'meals on a plate' Unsurprisingly, most posts depicted food and drink, typically meals on a plate, the cooking process, or step-by-step recipe instructions.