How social media is hijacking your health

Access to the Internet clearly opens up a vast array of virtually limitless sources of information. According to the Pew Research Center, close to 90 percent of people in the U.S. are accessing internet resources. This number has doubled in the last 20 years.

And, about 70 percent of the population uses social media. Clearly social media resources can have a great deal of influence on the information we access — and in turn what we believe.

QUESTION: How can social media affect your health?

ANSWER: In the ideal world, social media would present reliable, verifiable scientific information, making it possible for readers to make good decisions about their health.

Alas, a fair amount of information spread by social media related to food and dietary choices is biased and misleading. Special interest groups with agendas to push often cherry-pick scientific information that supports their cause while downplaying results that contradict their purpose.

Therefore, many nutrition- related messages may sound and appear impressive on the surface, but are too often partially wrong or at least misleading.

QUESTION: Is nutrition misinformation a new phenomenon?

ANSWER: No, misinformation isn’t new but what has changed is the speed and distance that social media spreads misinformation. This makes this form of communication more similar to a pandemic than a localized cold.

We know repetition is a common learning technique, but it is also a centuries-old brainwashing technique.

Repetition of the same nutrition message (true or false) increases the likelihood that it will be believed. The perception of credibility of information increases when messages come from multiple sources, especially family and friends.

QUESTION: How does nutrition misinformation get started?

ANSWER: Often, people innocently just want to share their personal beliefs and experience regarding nutrition and health. This is especially true with weight-loss successes.

Other times, misinformation is intentionally spread by those who want to change your beliefs and behavior. Social media messages often provide simple, seemingly common-sense information, but it can be difficult to identify the perpetrators’ agenda.

Sprinkling in misinformation with a good deal of credible information makes it extremely difficult for all but those trained in the discipline to separate fact from fiction.

QUESTION: How can you protect yourself from becoming a victim of social media misinformation?

ANSWER: The first rule is to understand there is no perfect food and no perfect diet.

Even too much of a good thing can damage your health. A reasonable amount of what some call “junk food” is not necessarily bad and can even provide nutrients essential for health.

Second, be a critical thinker by exploring information sources. Those untrained in nutrition are likely to over simplify or misinterpret research.

Third, ask yourself who stands to gain financially from changing your behavior or gaining your support for their cause.

Social media is not going away, so make sure that you do not make any dramatic changes to your food choices without the facts.

Alan Titchenal, Ph.D., C.N.S., and Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S., are nutritionists in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dobbs also works with University Health Services.