Pinterest is filled with deceptive cancer-related diet data, a brand new evaluation exhibits.
A person looking for “recipes for most cancers” or “most cancers recipes” on the positioning would have a 1 in 3 probability of linking to a web page promoting a services or products and a 95% probability of seeing content material making a well being declare, researchers discovered.
Almost 42% of the content material claimed to stop, 27% claimed to deal with, and virtually 11% presupposed to remedy most cancers.
“We have been actually shocked on the sheer variety of well being claims made on these posts,” co–lead researcher Margaret Raber, MPH, DrPH, with Baylor Faculty of Medication, Houston, Texas, instructed Medscape Medical Information. The discovering was particularly stunning, “on condition that Pinterest’s neighborhood pointers particularly restrict medically unsupported well being claims.
“It’s crucial for suppliers to acknowledge the difficulty of diet misinformation on-line and encourage sufferers to debate data they discover with their doctor,” Raber added.
The study was revealed on-line April 5 within the journal Most cancers.
The crew’s earlier analysis has revealed that the commonest kind of most cancers misinformation circulating on social media offers with most cancers diet.
Within the present research, Raber and colleagues explored the size and traits of cancer-related diet data on Pinterest, a social media platform significantly pleasant to diet and recipe content material however that explicitly asks customers to not publish “deceptive content material” or “unsolicited industrial or promoting messages.”
The evaluation included a complete of 103 distinctive “pins.” Every pin was coded for 58 variables, together with most cancers claims — equivalent to therapy, prevention, and remedy — and nutrition-specific claims — equivalent to “turmeric cures most cancers.” On common, pinners had greater than 116,000 followers, though some had as many as 1.5 million.
Total, the researchers discovered that few content material creators disclosed any health- or nutrition-related credentials (18%). And greater than two thirds (68%) of creators have been producing or trying to generate a revenue. Though most pins linked to recipes (73%), near half (49%) have been promoting services or products instantly on the pages linked from pins.
These services included dietary dietary supplements, meals merchandise, cookbooks, wellness teaching, and talking companies. Non-recipe content material included articles and e-book promotions.
Whereas the supposed viewers for the pins was broad, many focused sufferers and caregivers (44%). Breast cancer was the commonest most cancers kind referenced (12%).
Well being claims have been frequent, with content material that claimed to stop (42%), deal with (27%) or remedy (11%) most cancers. Roughly 40% made imprecise claims utilizing terminology equivalent to “anti-cancer,” “cancer-fighting,” and “most cancers cell killing.”
Particular well being claims fell into three major classes: cancer-related well being issues/signs (together with weight reduction and power), meals and meals elements (equivalent to antioxidants and herbs), and basic well being meals claims (equivalent to being natural and pure).
Eleven pins (11%) made direct claims that food- or diet-based therapies have been a possible, in some instances preferable, different to standard most cancers therapy. Pins additionally included tutorial or authorities citations (28%), disclaimers (36%), and private anecdotes (22%).
“The outcomes display the pervasiveness of well being claims with questionable validity in cancer-related recipes on Pinterest,” the authors write. And contemplating the severity of many most cancers diagnoses, “sufferers with most cancers and caregivers could also be particularly susceptible to most cancers diet misinformation as they search to exert private management over their scenario.”
It is very important acknowledge that this kind of data exists on a spectrum.
“It’s unlikely that ginger lollipops claiming to scale back nausea will trigger hurt, whereas articles claiming that ginger is extra highly effective than chemotherapy are extra regarding,” Raber instructed Medscape Medical Information. “We discovered each of those in our pattern.”
Plus, Raber added, Pinterest is probably going not the one social media website during which doubtful cancer-related diet data is slipping previous misinformation detection techniques.
What is the resolution?
“There is no such thing as a clear resolution to the difficulty of on-line diet misinformation,” co–lead researcher Echo Warner, PhD, MPH, with College of Utah Faculty of Nursing, Salt Lake Metropolis, instructed Medscape Medical Information. “There are two issues which can be in all probability not going to vary anytime quickly — folks utilizing the web to search out well being data, and other people sharing dangerous data on-line.”
However, Warner famous, recognizing that on-line most cancers diet misinformation is an issue is step one. “We are able to work to empower customers, particularly susceptible populations equivalent to most cancers sufferers, with affected person schooling sources and instruments to assist them navigate this content material,” Warner mentioned.
Penalties of Doubtful Diet Claims
Reached for remark, Shelley Maniscalco, MPH, RDN, member of the American Society for Diet, mentioned the quantity of diet misinformation on-line is “very regarding, significantly in a most cancers inhabitants.
“A lot of the time, the data is introduced in a approach that appears very intuitively true and/or consists of anecdotes that make it extra relatable,” mentioned Maniscalco, founding father of Diet on Demand, a Washington, DC–primarily based firm that gives dietary help to nationwide organizations, people, and households. “Sadly, neither of those components ensures that the data is science- or evidence-based, which it typically is not.”
Diet misinformation can have extreme penalties. It may well intrude with the efficacy of a therapy routine, waste a affected person’s cash, present false hope, and even result in therapy discontinuation. If, for instance, a affected person is juicing and experiences vital weight reduction, a practitioner might must halt their most cancers therapy.
“Misinformation isn’t a very good factor,” Maniscalco mentioned.
The research was supported by a College of Arizona postdoctoral analysis growth grant and partly by the Nationwide Most cancers Institute, the US Division of Agriculture, Agricultural Analysis Service, the College of Texas MD Anderson Most cancers Heart, the Heart for Vitality Steadiness in Most cancers Prevention and Survivorship, and the Duncan Household Institute. Raber is an unpaid board member of CookLab (nonprofit). Echo and Maniscalco have disclosed no related monetary relationships.
Most cancers. Printed on-line April 5, 2022. Abstract
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