Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38896841›Full record

ArticleJMIR formative research2024

Mediterranean Diet Information on TikTok and Implications for Digital Health Promotion Research: Social Media Content Analysis.

Margaret Raber, Haley Allen, Sophia Huang, Maria Vazquez, Echo Warner, Debbe Thompson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR formative research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Observational
  2. Article
  3. Review
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

6 authors.

Margaret Raber *Department of Health Disparities Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2403-9607
Haley AllenDepartment of Kinesiology, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9494-371X
Sophia HuangBaylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2572-8918
Maria VazquezDepartment of Health Disparities Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8180-8188
Echo WarnerThe University of Utah, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5998-9744
Debbe ThompsonBaylor College of Medicine, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Houston, TX, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5491-8816

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Mediterranean diet has been linked to reduced risk for several cardiometabolic diseases. The lack of a clear definition of the Mediterranean diet in the scientific literature and the documented proliferation of nutrition misinformation on the internet suggest the potential for confusion among consumers seeking web-based Mediterranean diet information.

objectiveWe conducted a social media content analysis of information about the Mediterranean diet on the influential social media platform, TikTok, to examine public discourse about the diet and identify potential areas of misinformation. We then analyzed these findings in the context of health promotion to identify potential challenges and opportunities for the use of TikTok in promoting the Mediterranean diet for healthy living.

methodsThe first-appearing 202 TikTok posts that resulted from a search of the hashtag #mediterraneandiet were downloaded and qualitatively examined. Post features and characteristics, poster information, and engagement metrics were extracted and synthesized across posts. Posts were categorized as those created by health professionals and those created by nonhealth professionals based on poster-reported credentials. In addition to descriptive statistics of the entire sample, we compared posts created by professionals and nonprofessionals for content using chi-square tests.

resultsTikTok posts varied in content, but posts that were developed by health professionals versus nonprofessionals were more likely to offer a definition of the Mediterranean diet (16/106, 15.1% vs 2/96, 2.1%; P=.001), use scientific citations to support claims (26/106, 24.5% vs 0/96, 0%; P<.001), and discuss specific nutrients (33/106, 31.1% vs 6/96, 6.3%; P<.001) and diseases related to the diet (27/106, 25.5% vs 5/96, 5.2%; P<.001) compared to posts created by nonhealth professionals.

conclusionsSocial media holds promise as a venue to promote the Mediterranean diet, but the variability in information found in this study highlights the need to create clear definitions about the diet and its components when developing Mediterranean diet interventions that use new media structures.

Indexed as

cardiometaboliccardiometabolic diseasecommunicationconsumercontent analysisdietdigital healtheatinghealth communicationhealthy dietMediterranean DietmHealthmisinformationmobile healthnutrition therapypromotion researchqualitysocial mediaTikTok

Identifiers

PMID38896841
PMCPMC11222766

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.