Mediterranean Diet Social Network Impact along 11 Years in the Major US Media Outlets: Thematic and Quantitative Analysis Using Twitter

Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon, Cesar I. Fernandez-Lazaro, Maria Llavero-Valero, Melchor Alvarez-Mon, Samia Mora, Miguel A. Martínez-González and Maira Bes-Rastrollo
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Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, 28031 Madrid, Spain
Cesar I. Fernandez-Lazaro: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
Maria Llavero-Valero: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
Melchor Alvarez-Mon: Department of Medicine and Medical Specialities, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcala, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Samia Mora: Center for Lipid Metabolomics, Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Miguel A. Martínez-González: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
Maira Bes-Rastrollo: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: Background: Media outlets influence social attitudes toward health. Thus, it is important that they share contents which promote healthy habits. The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk. Analysis of tweets has become a tool for understanding perceptions on health issues. Methods: We investigated tweets posted between January 2009 and December 2019 by 25 major US media outlets about MedDiet and its components as well as the retweets and likes generated. In addition, we measured the sentiment analysis of these tweets and their dissemination. Results: In total, 1608 tweets, 123,363 likes and 48,946 retweets about MedDiet or its components were analyzed. Dairy (inversely weighted in MedDiet scores) accounted for 45.0% of the tweets (723/1608), followed by nuts 19.7% (317/1608). MedDiet, as an overall dietary pattern, generated only 9.8% (157/1608) of the total tweets, while olive oil generated the least number of tweets. Twitter users’ response was quantitatively related to the number of tweets posted by these US media outlets, except for tweets on olive oil and MedDiet. None of the MedDiet components analyzed was more likely to be liked or retweeted than the MedDiet itself. Conclusions: The US media outlets analyzed showed reduced interest in MedDiet as a whole, while Twitter users showed greater interest in the overall dietary pattern than in its particular components.

Keywords: Twitter; social media; Mediterranean diet; public health; health promotion; health communication; mass media; social marketing; journalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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