What are Dietitians and Nutritionists doing on social media? A proposal of an online survey

Saboia, Inga; Almeida, Ana Margarida; Sousa, Paulo Henrique Alves de; Pernencar, Cláudia; Silva, Rui

doi:10.1016/j.procs.2021.01.232

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Another review conducted by Saboia et al [ 14 ] also evidenced the lack of studies that can describe how dietitians are using social networks. In a 2020 publication [ 15 ], the same authors designed a questionnaire to understand the dynamics of social media use by dietitians for future application with dietitians in Portugal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Social Networks in the Context of the Dietitian’s Practice in Brazil and Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploratory Study

Sbardelotto¹,

Martins²,

Buss³

2022

JMIR Form Res

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Background Social networks have been pointed out as 1 of the greatest means of spreading information. A large part of the population is already present on these platforms, looking up subjects such as health, nutrition, and food. To reach this audience, it may be important for dietitians to explore social networks. However, there is a gap in scientific studies on exploring the ways in which these platforms are used by dietitians in Brazil, and the roles they play in the profession have not been well defined. Objective This study aims to describe the roles that social networks play in dietitians' practice in Brazil and their mode of use of social networks. This study also aims to identify professionals’ perceptions and opinions regarding the use of these tools, as well as changes in behavior on social network usage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We carried out a quantitative cross-sectional study, collecting data through an online questionnaire, submitted between October 2020 and January 2021 to dietitians registered on the Federal Council of Dietitians. All participants included in the study answered questions about the use of social networks in their professional context. Results In total, 264 (91.7%) of the 288 participants reported using social networks for professional practice. Instagram was the social network most often used by professionals (224/264, 84.8%). Dietitians (N=288) related to the use of social networks (always to almost always) for sharing information about their services (n=114-72 [39.6%-25%], respectively), following the work of other dietitians (n=172-64 [59.7%-22.2%], respectively), and writing about topics related to food and nutrition (n=166-53 [57.6%-18.4%], respectively). The roles played by social networks in the professional context of dietitians were attracting more clients (210/289, 72.7%) and keeping in touch with them (195/289, 67.5%). Furthermore, 227 (78.5%) of the 289 dietitians strongly agreed that social networks are good tools to promote their services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 216 (74.7%) of the 289 participants noticed changes in their behavior, feelings, or beliefs on the use of social networks related to professional practice, and 149 (51.6%) have increased the frequency of sharing information about nutrition and health in general on social networks. Conclusions The main roles of social networks in the professional context of dietitians are to attract clients and to facilitate the contact between professional and client. The modes of use reported by the professionals included sharing information about their services, following the work of professional colleagues, and writing about topics related to nutrition. Most of them reported believing that social networks are an effective way to disseminate their services. Moreover, most professionals claimed to have noticed changes in their behaviors or beliefs on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Social Networks in the Context of the Dietitian’s Practice in Brazil and Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploratory Study

Sbardelotto¹,

Martins²,

Buss³

2022

JMIR Form Res

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“…Social media is an umbrella term for websites and applications that enable creation, sharing, communication and collaboration. 1,2 Social media platforms include social networking sites (Facebook and LinkedIn), content-sharing sites (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube), blogs and podcasts. 1,3,4 The use of social media has exploded in popularity as an online destination for health communication to complement traditional advocacy approaches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social media is an umbrella term for websites and applications that enable creation, sharing, communication and collaboration 1,2 . Social media platforms include social networking sites (Facebook and LinkedIn), content‐sharing sites (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube), blogs and podcasts 1,3,4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informing online professional dietetics practice: The development and pilot testing of the Social Media Evaluation Checklist

Squires

Brighton

Urquhart

et al. 2023

Nutrition & Dietetics

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AimTo develop and pilot a tool to evaluate Australian dietitians' and student dietitians' ethical and professional practice using social media.MethodsA Social Media Evaluation Checklist was developed based on checklist development literature with a four‐staged process. Stage one included a literature review and input from an expert panel to ensure content validity. Stages two and three were to ensure face validity by categorising the checklist and pilot testing the tool. Instagram profiles and posts were audited by two authors using the checklist in the final stage to analyse ethical and professional use. An account purposely created for this study was used, and the first 25 dietitian and first 25 student dietitian profiles identified using the key words ‘dietitian’, ‘student dietitian’ and ‘dietitian student’ and the hashtag ‘#australiandietitian’ were reviewed.ResultsA total of 50 Instagram profiles and 250 posts were audited based on seven categories; (1) financial disclosure, (2) cultural awareness, (3) evidence‐based information, (4) transparency, (5) privacy/confidentiality, (6) professionalism and (7) justifiability. Areas for improvement included advertising transparency which was met in only 12% of dietitian posts, and the provision of evidence‐based information, which was met in 56% of dietitian posts and 72% of student dietitian posts.ConclusionsThis study provides insight into the ethical and professional use of social media by Australian dietitians and dietetics students. With the evolving nature of social media, guidance is required. This will ensure dietitians remain, now and in the future, the credible source of nutrition information for the public.

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“…In the context of nutrition‐related information, dietitians have been creating blogs to disseminate healthy eating and nutrition information 25,26 . The online nature of blogs allows the communication of dietary information to a broader audience in a relatively quick, simple, and inexpensive manner 27–29 . This potential to communicate healthy eating information is further supported by consumers identifying dietitians as a credible, trusted and preferred source of nutrition information 30 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…25,26 The online nature of blogs allows the communication of dietary information to a broader audience in a relatively quick, simple, and inexpensive manner. [27][28][29] This potential to communicate healthy eating information is further supported by consumers identifying dietitians as a credible, trusted and preferred source of nutrition information. 30 However, little is known about whether consumers access blogs for the purpose of receiving healthy eating information, or their underlying motivations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthy eating blog readership: A cross‐sectional survey in Australian adults

Mete

Shield

Murray

et al. 2023

Nutrition & Dietetics

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AimsTo investigate whether members of the public read blogs for the purpose of accessing healthy eating information; examine demographic predictors of healthy eating blog readership, specifically education, gender, age, body mass index, and residential location; and explore the reasons for reading, and not reading, healthy eating blogs.MethodsThis study used a cross‐sectional online self‐reported survey design collected over three time points (round 1: December 2017–March 2018, round 2: August 2018–December 2018, round 3: December 2021–March 2022). The total sample of participants comprised of 238 respondents with a mean age of 46 years old, who mostly reported gender as female (82%), being educated with a university degree (69%), and predominantly resided in urban and city areas (84%).ResultsFifty‐one percent of respondents reported reading healthy eating blogs, suggesting that consumers were proactively seeking healthy eating information through this avenue. Participants who identified as female were 3.2 times more likely to read healthy eating blogs. Commonly, healthy eating blogs were read to receive practical information that aligned with current food choices. The main reason participants reported not reading healthy eating blogs was not thinking about using them (29%).ConclusionsUnderstanding who is seeking healthy eating information through blogs, and their reasons doing so, is important to continue research into the potential effectiveness of blogs as a platform to communicate healthy eating and nutrition messages. This study provides direction for further investigation into how dietetics professionals could effectively use blogs to disseminate healthy eating information and positively influence consumer food choices and dietary intake.

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What are Dietitians and Nutritionists doing on social media? A proposal of an online survey

Cited by 7 publications

References 15 publications

Use of Social Networks in the Context of the Dietitian’s Practice in Brazil and Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploratory Study

Use of Social Networks in the Context of the Dietitian’s Practice in Brazil and Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploratory Study

Informing online professional dietetics practice: The development and pilot testing of the Social Media Evaluation Checklist

Healthy eating blog readership: A cross‐sectional survey in Australian adults

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