November 2019 Question of the Month: Is Social Media a Nutritional Black Hole?

Nutrition advice from social media “experts” is best viewed with a huge grain of Himalayan pink salt, says new research presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity. British researchers at the University of Glasgow recently combed through popular U.K. nutrition and weight loss blogs to determine how much of the advice being dished out was trustworthy. The social media influencers were graded on transparency, nutritional soundness and use of research-backed references. In the end, just one individual among the nine most popular U.K. influencers could be trusted to deliver credible weight management and nutrition advice. Meals recommended by the online health “gurus” were often found to be nutritionally unbalanced. The problem remains that no nutrition qualifications are required to post online dieting advice.

Do you trust any of the nutrition advice you read from social media influencers? How do you scrutinize what you read online? How do you educate clients about the dangers of obtaining advice from noncredible sources?

Send your answers to Sandy Todd Webster at [email protected].