ArticleThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2024
#Fail: the quality and accuracy of nutrition-related information by influential Australian Instagram accounts.
Article in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Spread of Non-Evidence-Based Health Claims on Social Media: The Case of #Mouthtape on Instagram, a Cross-Sectional Study.Dentistry journal · 2026Article
- Perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of GLP-1 receptor agonists for weight management in the United Kingdom: a cross-sectional survey study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Time for action: How to combat myths and misinformation on social media.Allergy and asthma proceedings · 2026Article
- Exploring the Quality of TikTok-Based Diabetes Self-Management Education in English and Spanish: A Digital Health Study.The science of diabetes self-management and care · 2026Article
- Article
- A comparative study on the credibility of ischemic stroke treatment information on social media platforms: evidence from Weibo and REDnote.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Perceived awareness, objective nutrition knowledge, and health beliefs about probiotics and prebiotics among adults in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Misinformation on cardiovascular disease spreads through social networks: a scoping review.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Unqualified Advice and Product Promotions: Analysis of Health and Nutrition Content on Social Media Consumed by Young Adults.Nutrients · 2025Article
- People at-risk of an eating disorder are more likely to endorse dietary misinformation claims and hold rigid beliefs.Journal of health psychology · 2025Article
- Using Instagram for health promotion: professional and ethical challenges for Australian nutritionists and dietitians.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Preferences, Perceptions, and Use of Online Nutrition Content Among Young Australian Adults: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Evaluating the quality of online fertility nutrition claims.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Web Analytics to Objectively Measure the Success of Educational Resources in Human Anatomy.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- From plate to post: exploring representations of #familymeals through a content analysis of Instagram.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Utilizing Dimensions of Trust to Communicate with Consumers About the Science Behind Food.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Urban health inequities and healthy longevity: traditional and emerging risk factors across the cities and policy implications.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Review
- Social media and the spread of misinformation: infectious and a threat to public health.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Assessing Motivations and Channels for Nutritional Information Verification in Spanish University Communities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSocial media is a popular source of information about food and nutrition. There is a high degree of inaccurate and poor-quality nutrition-related information present online. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and accuracy of nutrition-related information posted by popular Australian Instagram accounts and examine trends in quality and accuracy based on author, topic, post engagement, account verification and number of followers.
methodsA sample of posts by Australian Instagram accounts with ≥ 100,000 followers who primarily posted about nutrition was collected between September 2020 and September 2021. Posts containing nutrition-related information were evaluated to determine the quality and accuracy of the information. Quality was assessed using the Principles for Health-Related Information on Social Media tool and accuracy was assessed against information contained in the Australian Dietary Guidelines, Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition database, Nutrient Reference Values and Metafact.
resultsA total of 676 posts were evaluated for quality and 510 posts for accuracy, originating from 47 Instagram accounts. Overall, 34.8% of posts were classified as being of poor quality, 59.2% mediocre, 6.1% good and no posts were of excellent quality. A total of 44.7% of posts contained inaccuracies. Posts authored by nutritionists or dietitians were associated with higher quality scores (β, 17.8, CI 13.94-21.65; P < 0.001) and higher accuracy scores (OR 4.69, CI 1.81-12.14, P = 0.001) compared to brands and other accounts. Information about supplements was of lower accuracy (OR 0.23, CI 0.10-0.51, P < 0.001) compared to information about weight loss and other nutrition topics. Engagement tended to be higher for posts of lower quality (β -0.59, P = 0.012), as did engagement rate (β -0.57, P = 0.016). There was no relationship between followers or account verification and information quality or accuracy and no relationship between engagement and accuracy.
conclusionsNutrition-related information published by influential Australian Instagram accounts is often inaccurate and of suboptimal quality. Information about supplements and posts by brand accounts is of the lowest quality and accuracy and information posted by nutritionists and dietitians is of a higher standard. Instagram users are at risk of being misinformed when engaging with Australian Instagram content for information about nutrition.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.