Sports nutrition information is more readily accessible than ever. Social media has become one of the primary ways for people seek nutritional information (2).
If you’re a cyclist and have social media it’s no doubt you’ve seen hundreds of posts offering sports nutrition advice. It’s safe to assume that some of that advice can be accurate and some inaccurate.
As athletes, sports nutrition is vital to our ability to perform, so it’s essential we are utilizing accurate information. This raises the question, is Instagram an accurate source to receive information?
Two recent studies set out to understand the world of nutrition-related advice on Instagram through a scientific lens. The first study we’ll look at sought to assess the quality of nutrition-related advice on Instagram.
In the second study, researchers set out to better understand the type of information shared by popular Instagram influencers. Let’s take a look at what each study found.
Study 1 – #Fail: the quality and accuracy of nutrition-related information by influential Australian Instagram accounts
This study from 2024 looked at the credibility of 676 posts from 47 Australian Instagram influencers. The quality of information was investigated utilizing the PRHISM tool.
The PRHISM tool contains thirteen principles scored from zero to four and it was made to assess the quality of health-related information on social media. The accuracy was determined based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines (1).
This table below shows the quality and accuracy from the posts of Australian Instagram Influencer accounts examined in this study.
Within the columns on the table, accounts are broken down based on the type of category, and the posts are organized by topic. The top row of the chart is the breakdown of the quality and accuracy of each post.
| Quality / Accuracy | Poor n (%) | Mediocre n (%) | Good n (%) | Excellent n (%) | Completely inaccurate n (%) | Mostly inaccurate, some accurate n (%) | Mostly accurate, some accurate n (%) | Completely accurate n (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 34.8 | 59.2 | 6.1 | 0 | 8.6 | 14.3 | 21.8 | 55.3 | |||
| Account category | |||||||||||
| Brand | 47.2 | 52.7 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 25.7 | 20.3 | 41.9 | |||
| Fitness/ coaching influencer | 37.0 | 37.0 | 0 | 0 | 7.7 | 9.6 | 17.3 | 65.4 | |||
| Lifestyle influencer | 43.9 | 56.1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 12.5 | 17.5 | 60.0 | |||
| Nutritionist /dietitian influencer | 0.7 | 71.0 | 28.3 | 0 | 2.4 | 7.2 | 19.2 | 71.2 | |||
| Post topic | |||||||||||
| Weight loss | 26.4 | 62.6 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 6.1 | 28.8 | 62.1 | |||
| Sports/ exercise nutrition | 42.2 | 57.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 | 15.4 | 80.8 | |||
| Supplements | 52.4 | 47.2 | 0.4 | 0 | 16 | 28.0 | 20.5 | 35.4 | |||
| Foods/ nutrients and health | 24.1 | 62.1 | 13.8 | 0 | 9.3 | 6.2 | 21.6 | 62.9 | |||
| General healthy eating | 15.7 | 71.3 | 13.0 | 0 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 15.5 | 77.8 | |||
| Pediatric nutrition | 0 | 81.8 | 18.2 | 0 | 3.5 | 24.1 | 34.5 | 37.9 | |||
| Other (e.g., food sustainability, veganism) | 21.6 | 67.6 | 10.8 | 0 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 25.9 | 59.3 | |||
Taking a look at this table, the majority of the information was poor or mediocre quality (shown in red color) and only half of the posts were completely accurate (shown in green color) (1). Content about supplements or posts from brand accounts had the lowest quality and accuracy.
Posts from nutritionists’ and dietitian accounts had the highest quality and accuracy out of the accounts investigated. Researchers expressed concern that people who engage with these accounts are at risk of being misinformed advising that users should be skeptical of information on Instagram and seek to find information provided by accounts of nutritionists and dietitians (1).
Study #2- Nutrition-Related Content on Instagram in the United States of America: Analytical Cross-Sectional Study
Another study examined American respondant’s nutritional influencers. In this study participants were asked to “name some of your favorite influencers on Instagram”. Researchers then organized posts from this influencer pool into different categories of content (2). Here’s how the instagram posts were organized.
| Posts by the Named Nutritional Influencers (n = 210) | No (%) | Yes (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific evidence on post | 85.7 | 14.3 |
| Post promoted a product or supplement | 8.6 | 91.4 |
| Post promoted a brand | 6.2 | 93.8 |
| Post about a recipe | 65.7 | 34.3 |
| Post suggested follower what to eat | 13.3 | 86.7 |
The majority of the posts made by nutritional influencers cited no scientific evidence (2) leading to many people being misinformed. Adding on, only 22.4% of the participants in the study stated looking up the influencer’s accreditation (2).
Rather than containing evidence, researchers found that most posts promoted a product or supplement (2). As users it’s important that we are able to discern when a post is rooted in scientific evidence or if its primary purpose is to promote a product or supplement.
Reviewing both studies
On Instagram research on the type and quality of nutrition-related advice is limited. The majority of sports-nutrition content on Instagram is somewhere between mediocre and poor.
Most of the posts from influencers contained no links to evidence to support their claims. Additionally, most of those posts were made to promote a brand or product not to share scientific evidence. Your best chance at finding quality advice is generally shared by accounts of nutritionists or dietitians.
Where do people go to receive accurate information?
Inevitably you will find poor nutrition advice on social media. Ideally, athletes should receive information from a sports nutritionist, dietitian, or performance chef (2). However, for the majority of athletes not involved in elite sports these resources are unavailable, and information is acquired from other sources.
Here are some practical steps you can take to find information with high quality and accuracy. If you’re passionate about sports nutrition, consider picking up the newest edition of the textbook Sport Nutrition (non-affiliate link).
Online information should be acquired from a neutral evidence-based source (2). Sources such as websites of most major sports governing bodies, learned academic societies, and websites that are run by well-qualified and experienced experts and are designed to provide evidence-based information about sport science and exercise nutrition (2). Here are a few examples
Its a good rule of thumb to be skeptical of every nutrtion-related claim you see on social media. Especially if something seems too good to be true, cross-reference the information with a high-quailty source.
Sources-
- Denniss, E., Lindberg, R., Marchese, L. E., & McNaughton, S. A. (2024, February 14). #fail: The Quality and accuracy of nutrition-related information by influential Australian Instagram accounts. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10865719/#CR6
- Jeukendrup, A., & Gleeson, M. (n.d.). Sports Nutrition (4th ed.).
- Tricas-Vidal, H. J., Vidal-Peracho, M. C., Lucha-López, M. O., Hidalgo-García, C., Lucha-López, A. C., Monti-Ballano, S., Corral-de Toro, J., Márquez-Gonzalvo, S., & Tricás-Moreno, J. M. (2022, January 17). Nutrition-related content on Instagram in the United States of America: Analytical cross-sectional study. Foods (Basel, Switzerland). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8774557/#B8-foods-11-00239