Ultra-Scrolling Social: The Missing Variable in Obesity Policy – EUReporter
This article was originally published by EUReporter in Brussels.
It introduces a concept developed in our recent position paper: Ultra-Scrolling Social (USS) and argues that public health debates on obesity and cardiovascular disease are overlooking a critical determinant of modern lifestyles, the digital environment.
Ultra-Scrolling Social
Across advanced economies, the debate on obesity and cardiovascular disease has become increasingly centred on food. Policymakers in Europe, the United States, and the United Kingdom are discussing new labels, taxes, advertising restrictions, and regulatory frameworks targeting so-called ultra-processed foods (UPFs). The underlying idea is that changing the food environment will help reduce obesity and cardiovascular risk.
The intention is understandable. Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in Europe, and obesity rates continue to rise. Yet when the diagnosis becomes too narrow, the policy response risks becoming incomplete.
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Public health debates are increasingly shaped by what could be described as a “monoculture of nutrition” — a framework that treats food as the primary driver of obesity while leaving other determinants largely unexplored.
But the human body does not function only through what we eat. It operates through energy balance: calories in and calories out.
Over the past two decades, daily life has undergone a profound transformation. Free time has increasingly become screen time. Spontaneous movement — walking, playing, standing up and moving without thinking — has steadily declined, replaced by hours spent in front of smartphones, gaming platforms, streaming services and social media feeds.
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Scientific evidence increasingly links excessive screen exposure to reduced energy expenditure, sleep disruption, distracted eating and worsening cardiometabolic markers. A person can be formally active for one hour a day and still be metabolically sedentary if the rest of the day is dominated by prolonged digital immobility.
Yet while policymakers regulate food environments with growing enthusiasm, digital environments remain largely absent from prevention frameworks.
To highlight this imbalance, our recent position paper introduces a deliberately provocative concept: Ultra-Scrolling Social (USS). Just as public debate has created the category of ultra-processed foods, USS proposes a lens to describe patterns of digital exposure characterised by endless scrolling, loss of temporal control, and the displacement of movement.
The goal is not to call for new bans or taxes. The goal is policy coherence.
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If environments shape behaviour, obesity and cardiovascular prevention cannot focus only on the plate while ignoring the screen.
Understanding modern health challenges requires moving beyond monocausal explanations and recognising the broader ecosystem that shapes how we move, sleep, eat, and spend our time.
Because today, one of the most powerful determinants of health may no longer be only what is on our plate, but what is on our screen.
