There was a time when watching someone eat would probably have been considered ordinary, even boring. Today, it can attract millions of views. On YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms, people regularly watch strangers cook, taste, chew and sometimes consume surprisingly large amounts of food. What looks like a simple internet trend has developed into a global form of entertainment known as eating content, with mukbang being one of its best-known formats.
Mukbang, which roughly translates to “eating broadcast,” originated in South Korea and became a recognizable online phenomenon in the late 2000s before spreading internationally. In these videos, creators eat food while speaking to viewers, often interacting with comments during live broadcasts or recorded videos. Some videos focus on ordinary meals, while others feature unusually large portions, spicy foods or eating challenges.
The numbers show just how much attention this type of content can attract. A 2020 study examined 5,952 mukbang videos on YouTube, along with 5,265 news articles and survey responses from 1,200 people in South Korea. Researchers found that videos featuring overeating were more popular than those without it. In their sample, 83.5% of the videos showed overeating, while 5.6% featured extremely spicy or irritating foods.
So why do people enjoy watching someone else eat?
One explanation is surprisingly simple: company. Eating is often a social experience, and digital platforms allow people to recreate part of that experience online. Research has found that some viewers use mukbang videos when eating alone because they create a feeling of having someone else around. A study of online discussions about mukbang found that viewers described the videos as helping reduce loneliness for some people.
There is also something satisfying about watching food without actually having to eat it. Viewers can experience the visual and audio aspects of a meal while remaining physically removed from it. Close-up shots, crunchy sounds and descriptions of food are particularly common in eating videos. Research published in 2025 found that eating videos across YouTube, TikTok and Bilibili frequently included food descriptions, narration and signs of companionship in their comment sections.
The appeal, however, is not entirely harmless or straightforward. Researchers have been examining whether frequent exposure to eating videos can influence viewers’ relationships with food and their bodies. A 2026 study involving 446 adults in Australia and China found that watching content such as mukbangs and eating challenges was associated with several body-image and eating concerns, including food craving and thin-ideal internalisation. The researchers stressed that the study was cross-sectional, meaning it could identify relationships but could not establish that watching the videos caused these concerns.
Interestingly, research does not point in only one direction. A 2026 experimental study involving 327 Australian university students examined what happened immediately after participants watched a 10-minute mukbang video. The researchers found reductions in some urges related to disordered eating, while they found no significant changes in body dissatisfaction, negative affect or anxiety. The study was a short-term experiment, so it does not establish what happens with repeated viewing over longer periods.
This mixed evidence is important because it shows that watching people eat does not affect everyone in the same way. For some viewers, these videos can provide entertainment, sensory stimulation or a feeling of companionship. For others, certain types of eating content may interact with existing concerns about food, body image or eating behavior. Researchers are still studying exactly how these relationships work.
What makes the trend particularly interesting is that the internet has transformed an everyday activity into a performance. Eating is no longer something people only do at a table with family or friends. It can now be filmed, edited, livestreamed, commented on and shared with audiences around the world.
The obsession with watching other people eat is therefore about more than food. It sits at the intersection of entertainment, technology, social connection and human curiosity. And as social media continues to turn ordinary moments into content, the simple act of watching someone have a meal has become a surprisingly powerful part of internet culture.
