New Research: Celebrities Give Terrible Nutrition Advice
Maybe seeking out an RDN (registered dietitian nutritionist) would be a better idea than relying on celebrities for guidance about what to eat and drink. A new study in the journal Pediatrics finds that “music celebrities who are popular among adolescents endorse energy-dense, nutrient-poor products.”
Marie Bragg and colleagues collected data on endorsements of food and beverages by music stars on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. They used the Nutrient Profile Index for foods and added sugar for beverages to assess nutritional quality. They used Teen Choice Award nominations as a measure of a celebrity’s popularity with adolescents. They found that 71% of the endorsed beverages were sugar-sweetened. Of the foods endorsed, 81% were energy dense and nutrient poor.
But this is just one slice of the celebrity nutrition advice pie. While these music celebrities are pushing food to adolescents with lots of calories and little nutrition, a bevy of other celebrities are selling sugar detox diets, mushroom diets, alkaline diets, and any number of food delivery schemes. Presumably they will wash away all the ill effects of the junk that music stars are selling.
Don’t even get us started on Gwyneth Paltrow. If you want good nutrition advice, connect with a good RDN.
Click here for the study in Pediatrics and here for more perspective from the Washington Post.
Paparazzi & Subject, photograph © Jeff Balke / flickr
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June 8, 2016
June 08, 2016 at 9:08 am, Christine Weithman said:
Thanks Ted for your continued support of the RDN – For those who are looking for an RD in their area see this link: http://www.eatright.org/find-an-expert
June 08, 2016 at 9:52 am, Stephen Phillips said:
The history of celebrities endorsing “unhealthy products ” goes back a long way…Mark Twain had, Mark Twain Cigars and Mark Twain Flour….Eleanor Roosevelt had Good Luck Margarine …….and who will ever forget JELL-O Pudding Pops and Bill Cosby
What we need are superstars that passionately endorse sound nutrition science information …..
Stephen Phillips
American Association of Bariatric Counselors
June 08, 2016 at 11:43 am, Allen Browne said:
I agree with Mr. Phillips. We need to have someone pay the stars to endorse healthy food and beverages. Marketing is not bad – it is misused.