Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33353573›Full record

ReviewPublic health nutrition2021

Social media analytics in nutrition research: a rapid review of current usage in investigation of dietary behaviours.

Emma Stirling, Jane Willcox, Kok-Leong Ong, Adrienne Forsyth

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Social Listening as a Tool to Understand Nutrition-Related Information Needs: A Case Study in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Emma StirlingSchool of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne3086, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-1702-838X
Jane WillcoxSchool of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne3086, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-6306-5333
Kok-Leong OngLa Trobe Business School, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Adrienne ForsythSchool of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne3086, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveSocial media analytics (SMA) has a track record in business research. The utilisation in nutrition research is unknown, despite social media being populated with real-time eating behaviours. This rapid review aimed to explore the use of SMA in nutrition research with the investigation of dietary behaviours.

designThe review was conducted according to rapid review guidelines by WHO and the National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools. Five databases of peer-reviewed, English language studies were searched using the keywords 'social media' in combination with 'data analytics' and 'food' or 'nutrition' and screened for those with general population health using SMA on public domain, social media data between 2014 and 2020.

resultsThe review identified 34 studies involving SMA in the investigation of dietary behaviours. Nutrition topics included population nutrition health investigations, alcohol consumption, dieting and eating out of the home behaviours. All studies involved content analysis with evidence of surveillance and engagement. Twitter was predominant with data sets in tens of millions. SMA tools were observed in data discovery, collection and preparation, but less so in data analysis. Approximately, a third of the studies involved interdisciplinary collaborations with health representation and only two studies involved nutrition disciplines. Less than a quarter of studies obtained formal human ethics approval.

conclusionsSMA in nutrition research with the investigation of dietary behaviours is emerging, nevertheless, if consideration is taken with technological capabilities and ethical integrity, the future shows promise at a broad population census level and as a scoping tool or complementary, triangulation instrument.

Indexed as

Social MediaAlcohol DrinkingDietFeeding BehaviorHumansResearch DesignDietary behaviourNutritionSocial mediaSocial media analyticsSurveillance

Identifiers

PMID33353573
PMCPMC10195628

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.