Mukbangs

Article by : Rafael Andres Jennings

On September 6. 2024, after a five-month hiatus mukbang creator, Nickocado Avocado posted a video titled “Two Steps Ahead” to his YouTube channel. The now 50 million time viewed video was an announcement of his 250-pound weight loss. 

Since switching from Vegan content to pasta-filled, cheese-dripping mukbang videos, Nickocado has amassed 4.6 million subscribers and over 2 billion views. Yet, Nickocado is not an outlier in this brand of internet fame. Rather, a pioneer in the category. 

With over 5.3 million TikTok videos using the #mukbang (Tiktok, 2025), mukbang has become the new frontier of Digital Media. This popularity begs the question, what does the future of mukbang look like, and how do we look next to it?

The word, mukbang, is a combination of the Korean words meongneun (먹는), and bangsong (방송). in English it translates to “eating broadcast” or “eatcast”. Before global popularity, mukbang gained popularity in South Korea through livestreams on the South Korean platform AfreecaTV in 2009. In contrast to the uber-healthy food culture that dominated Korean eating trends in the early 2000s, mukbang gave South Koreans an outlet to enjoy socially conflicting eating habits and eventually rose to popularity.

Exploring culture through food is a defining feature of mukbang. Stephanie Soo, a Korean American mukbang video creator has assembled an audience of 4.71 million YouTube subscribers for her mukbang Storytime content which often centers on Asian dishes and Asian stories. 

Dr. Paddieh Lovan- an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, Postdoctoral Associate, Registered Dietitian, and Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist- shared her thoughts on mukbang and its promotion of culture.

“It (mukbang) has a sort of globalization of food.” Dr. Lovan added, “That’s a good aspect of it (mukbang) we learn about food, different foods across the world.”

From home-cooked lunches, and Wingstop feasts, to the infamous Chamoy pickle- mukbang is a visual buffet, ready to satisfy any craving with just a search.

Lauryn Wynn, a freshman studying Biology on the Pre-Med track at the University of Miami, shared her mukbang viewing habits.

“I usually watch them (mukbang) if I’m hungry and do not have any food.” Lauryn then added, “If I have an almond, I’ll think, okay, maybe I’m eating the same thing they are.”

Dr. Lovan spoke on the role that cravings play in mukbang enjoyment. 

“Watching these videos can also cause craving. The sounds and the visuals can cause you craving.” She added, “Even if you’re full, you just had lunch, and next thing you know, it can actually stimulate you to have a bowl of Ramen, for example.”

In 2022, 2.5 billion adults worldwide suffered from being overweight, with 890 million of that group being obese (World Health Organization, 2025). One factor contributing to overweight and obesity can be the overconsumption of calorie-dense foods. This behavior can inadvertently be promoted through mukbang content. 

In a 2023 study, it was recorded that individuals who experienced more intense symptoms of binge eating were linked to “more problematic” mukbang viewership. (Ash et al., 2023). The study also found that 34% of study participants watched mukbang content daily. 

The popularity of mukbang content has turned regular people into internet celebrities. When likes, views, and shares content made to gratify the hunger of a worldwide audience, there is an extremity some creators utilize to popularize their content.

In July 2024, Pan Xiaoting, a Chinese mukbang creator, collapsed and died while live-streaming herself eating. Pan was a consistent mukbang creator and had garnered a strong audience. According to her autopsy, she had 22 pounds of undigested food in her stomach at her time of death. This occurred after she promised her followers she would live-stream herself eating 22 pounds of food. She is not the first mukbang influencer to die from food-related complications. 

While the motivations for binge eating and mukbang content creation differ, they can present themselves similarly. The large quantities of food consumption that fill for-you-pages, and YouTube-suggested pages mirror aspects of binge eating behavior (Kang et al., 2020). 

In a 2020 study that analyzed patterns in mukbang YouTube videos, the researchers concluded that 91.5 percent of the videos analyzed showed consumption of delivered, restaurant, and store-bought food. Additionally, 83.5 percent of the videos showed overeating.

Etienne Atanga, an Undergraduate Neuroscience Major, at the University of Miami, who is currently researching the Neurological motivations for Binge Eating, shared his view of mukbang viewership.

“(mukbang) might normalize overeating for some viewers, while for others, they might serve as a kind of vicarious satisfaction.”

As of right now, the effects of mukbang viewership remain ambiguous. However, we know that social media has an undeniable hand in the way Gen Z views food and body image.

Dr. Sarah Ravin, a Miami-based Psychologist, who specializes in eating disorder, anxiety disorder, depression, and body dysmorphia treatment, offered her professional perspective on social media’s role in perceptions of food and body. 

  “This generation has been bombarded with food advertising…” She added, “I would recommend that people who are struggling with food take a break from food-related social media…” or “seeking counseling from a therapist who specializes in eating disorders and/or a dietitian who can offer nutritional counseling.”

With viral obsessions like Crumbl Cookie, the Dubai Chocolate, and Cottage Cheese recipes, it doesn’t look like our fascination with food media is going to end. Even a creator like Nickocado Avocado has returned to his mukbang videos, while simultaneously chronicling his weight loss and health journey. However, it is important to be intentional in our viewership. Remind ourselves what we’re seeing is not always real or healthy can save us from passive mental health effects. When it comes to mukbang, maybe we need to make a mental label before indulging.

References 

Park, Sy., Eom, J., Choi, S. et al. Association between watching eating broadcast “Mukbang and Cookbang” and body mass index status in South Korean adolescents stratified by gender. Nutr J 23, 43 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-024-00946-0

Kang E, Lee J, Kim KH, Yun YH. The popularity of eating broadcast: Content analysis of “mukbang” YouTube videos, media coverage, and the health impact of “mukbang” on public. Health Informatics Journal. 2020;26(3):2237-2248. doi:10.1177/1460458220901360

Senior, C. M. (2024, July 24). Grotesque rise of extreme eating influencers in America. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13664345/Dying-fame-Grotesque-extreme-eating-mukbang.html

Obesity and overweight. (2021, June 9). World Health Organization (WHO). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

von Ash T, Huynh R, Deng C, White MA. Associations between mukbang viewing and disordered eating behaviors. Int J Eat Disord. 2023 Jun;56(6):1188-1198. doi: 10.1002/eat.23915. Epub 2023 Feb 17. PMID: 36807921.