May 26, 2024 — Skimming the headlines, it would be easy to think that the combination of mobile phones and social media are responsible for quite a range of our current ills – including mental health and obesity. If you want to dig deeper, you can find a whole tome on the subject from Jonathan Haidt. He has woven […]
May 22, 2024 — In a certain way, Ozempic and TikTok were made for each other. One is the most viral social media of the moment. The other is an omnipresent sensation in medical therapy. Both of them fill a vacuum in popular culture. For TikTok, the vacuum might be boredom – though we admit that this assessment comes […]
February 16, 2024 — Influencers are not doctors. They can’t understand the science issues with obesity drugs. That’s not what they do. With expressive skill, a leading influencer in the fat acceptance movement put her finger on an important issue in the Washington Post this week. On this, we totally agree. If we listen to many social media influencers, […]
December 8, 2023 — Sounds great, looks great, not helpful. That’s how we would sum up the evidence for “fitspiration” social media posts and their influence on personal health. Oxford defines this genre as “a person or thing that serves as motivation for someone to sustain or improve health and fitness.” But a recent systematic review puts a harsher […]
September 18, 2023 — Clickbait journalists are taking aim at clickbait nutrition influencers and we wonder: Who benefits from this fracas? Late last week, the Washington Post ran a story exploring the phenomenon of dietitians who are active in social media. Their thesis: “Registered dietitians are being paid to post videos that promote diet soda, sugar and supplements on […]
April 9, 2023 — Hello darkness, my old friend. Welcome to the sound of silence. Social networks, conceived to connect and inform us, have evolved in a way to polarize and misinform us. Loud voices dominate public narratives on a wide range of subjects and leave us little room for the development of well-informed and nuanced views. Certainly we […]
March 24, 2023 — You might have thought the U.S. government was busy with other stuff. Like writing new dietary guidelines. Or defining what food is naughty or nice. Or perhaps even sorting out problems with bank regulation. Maybe so, but these folks can multitask, so now we have the final word on peanut butter – it’s definitely, certifiably […]
March 16, 2023 — We are living in an age of amplified contention. Anger can be like a muscle that gets stronger when we exercise it. If you doubt that, take a long look at what social media amplifies. So seeing passionate contention at the intersection of obesity and eating disorders might be unsurprising. But it’s not especially helpful […]
December 20, 2022 — Information technology has morphed into social media and become an essential tool for many of us. Is it amplifying our obsessions or informing our thoughts? Perhaps it’s a matter of perspective – and thus, a bit of both. It can bring informed thinking about matters of health, wellness, and social progress. Or it can fuel […]
August 29, 2022 — Here we go again. Chia seeds are back for another round of faddish popularity. This ancient grain popped up on TikTok recently – attached to an #InternalShower hashtag. It’s promoting chia seeds mixed with water and lemon for a supposedly cleansing experience. To be clear, we’re not fans of any kind of “cleansing” dietary experience. […]
