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Researchers are warning that a pattern of behavior known as "digital obesity," marked by aimless social media scrolling, uninterrupted short-video viewing and compulsive phone checking driven by fear of missing out, is leading to excessive consumption of what they describe as "data calories," affecting attention and mental perception.
Constant exposure to social media feeds, short-video switching and notification checks throughout the day illustrates how digital consumption increasingly dominates daily life.
Researchers describe "digital obesity" as the mental burden created by consuming more digital content than necessary, without control.
Continuous exposure to new stimuli can make it harder for a person to focus on a single subject for an extended period, think deeply, or draw connections between pieces of information.
The spread of short, rapidly consumed videos in particular exposes users to a steady stream of new content, while also making activities that require sustained attention more difficult.
Haldun Narmanlioglu, a faculty member at Marmara University's Faculty of Communication in Istanbul, described digital obesity as comparable to the stomach discomfort that follows eating too much varied food. He said that while information overload was once limited mainly to news, it now spans every type of content.
'Let us call this "data calories. Just as excess calories in the body create sluggishness, restrict movement and damage health, "data calories" affect our minds. They paralyze our ability to make quick decisions, think deeply and think analytically," Narmanlioglu said, adding that digital obesity has become a significant issue affecting mental processes and perception.
Narmanlioglu said short videos and rapidly consumed social media content, in particular, activate the brain's reward mechanism, triggering what he called "effortless dopamine" release, which shortens attention spans.
Addressing people who use information technologies for work, he said this does not itself constitute a problem, provided reasonable timeframes and working conditions are considered.
He said the defining criterion for digital obesity is aimless consumption rather than professional use.
Narmanlioglu added that prolonged screen exposure contributes to dry eyes, insomnia, neck flattening and posture disorders. On ways to avoid digital obesity, he said sustainable, quality content consumption is essential, recommending that phones be kept on silent, unnecessary app notifications be turned off, devices be kept out of bedrooms, and phones be set aside in social settings to engage with others.
Oguz Gulleb, a research assistant at Marmara University's Faculty of Communication, said digital obesity is a concept that emerged alongside social media and internet use, and that the digital content consumed can be technically compared to junk food. He said the phenomenon can produce both physiological and psychological effects.
“Physiologically, it can result in posture disorders, weight gain and eye problems. Psychologically, it shows early signs that can precede digital addiction, including impulsive urges to pick up the phone in situations where it should not be used. In particular, among young people whose brains are still developing, the dopamine released during rapid consumption reinforces the idea that consuming quickly leads to happiness. A study from 2004 found attention span was over two minutes; today it has fallen to 47 seconds,” he said.
Gulleb said checking a screen immediately upon waking and reaching for the phone even while waiting at a red light are among the signs of digital obesity.
He noted that, unlike digital addiction, a clinical condition involving anxiety and stress, digital obesity is a conceptual description found in the literature rather than a diagnosis.
He said digital obesity patterns vary by age and gender, citing a European study that found 44% of 13-year-old girls showed problematic social media use driven by a desire for peer acceptance, while 17% of boys showed problematic gaming behavior linked to reward systems.
On steps to prevent digital obesity without becoming screen-dependent, Gulleb recommended spending at least the first half hour after waking away from phones, televisions, or any digital screen, focusing instead on oneself, family, or breakfast, saying the brain only begins to fully engage during that window.
He also suggested removing social media shortcuts from home screens, which can reduce impulsive app use by making access less convenient.
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