Is Social Media Spreading Misinformation on Exercise and Health in Brazil?

Moacir Marocolo, Anderson Meireles, Hiago Leandro Rodrigues de Souza, Gustavo Ribeiro Mota, Dustin Jay Oranchuk, Rhaí André Arriel and Laura Hora Rios Leite
Additional contact information
Moacir Marocolo: Department of Physiology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brazil
Anderson Meireles: Department of Physiology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brazil
Hiago Leandro Rodrigues de Souza: Department of Physiology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brazil
Gustavo Ribeiro Mota: Exercise Science, Health and Human Performance Research Group, Department of Sport Sciences, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Triangulo Mineiro, Uberaba 38025-180, Brazil
Dustin Jay Oranchuk: Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, School of Sport and Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
Rhaí André Arriel: Department of Physiology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brazil
Laura Hora Rios Leite: Department of Physiology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brazil

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-10

Abstract: Instagram (IG) reaches millions of people, sharing personal content and all kinds of information, including those related to exercise and health. However, the scientific quality of the posted information is questionable. Thus, this study aimed to analyze whether exercise and health information posted by popular Brazilian IG influencers has technical-scientific accuracy. A personal IG account was created to identify Brazilian IG profiles. The inclusion criteria of the accounts were: (1) having 50% of all the shared posts related to topics about exercise and health, such as nutrition, health and wellness, medicine, or physical fitness; and (2) having over 100,000 followers. Qualitative analysis revealed a low quality percentage (38.79 ± 25.43%) for all analyzed posts. Out of all the posts, only 13 (~2.7%) cited a reference endorsing the information. Moreover, the higher quality-ratio score of the posts was not directly associated with the higher educational qualification of the influencers (r = 0.313; p = 0.076). Nevertheless, the number of followers was inversely correlated with the educational qualification of the influencers (r = ?0.450; p = 0.009), but not with the quality-ratio score of the posts (r = ?0.178 p = 0.322). We conclude that prominent Brazilian IG influencers disseminate low-quality information about exercise and health, contributing to the wide-spreading of misinformation to millions of followers.

Keywords: fitspiration; fitness; Instagram; nutrition; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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