Abstract
Background: Physical constraints of small apartment kitchens and the influence of the surrounding community food environment may impact food practices of apartment residents. Social media portrayal of these features may influence public perception of apartment living. Aim: This project aimed to describe the public depiction of small apartment kitchen and cooking facilities. Methods: Content analysis of TikTok videos posted with small apartment-related hashtags was determined the portrayal of kitchen facilities, residents’ food practices, and hypothesised barriers to healthy cooking and eating practices. Current residents of small apartments compared these video depictions to their own experience. Results: We found TikTok videos rarely showed food practices (cooking, shopping and eating), kitchen size and function were usually portrayed with a positive or neutral sentiment, and that overall the depiction did not match current apartment residents’ lived experience. Conclusion: Popular TikTok videos of small apartment kitchens present a glamorised view of microapartment living.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Publication Title
Nutrition and Health
Publisher
Sage
School
Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute
Funders
Research Training Program Fees Offset Scholarship / The University of Western Australia / Stan Perron Foundation People and Platforms Grant / Edith Cowan University / Australian Research Council
Grant Number
ARC Number : FT210100899
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Comments
Mandzufas, J., Lombardi, K., Winter, D., Foster, S., Hickling, S., & Trapp, G. S. (2026). ‘How I cook with no kitchen’: An investigation of how #microapartment kitchens are depicted on TikTok. Nutrition and Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02601060251411436