New paper: Perspectives on sugar consumption expressed on social media by French-speaking and Danish-speaking parents

 The results suggest that online nutrition content about sugar causes negative feelings and distress among parents

The research was conducted by #ESR8 Andreia and Jessica Aschemann-Witzel in Aarhus University – Denmark. The researchers analyzed content posted by parents about sugar on Facebook and blogs. In the online discussions, sugar consumption appeared as a two-sided experience, being at times a hazard, a toxin, a drug – but also an important source of comfort, taste and enjoyment.

Mostly, the online sugar content and parents’ reactions to it exposes a widespread dietary cacophony and negative feelings around health nutrition advices. For some parents, excess of nutrition information on social media can be counterproductive, leading to anxiety and unhealthy eating.

The study calls attention to the need of an individualized approach to nutrition interventions. Different groups of parents will follow different kinds of dietary guidance according to their own values, priorities and possibilities.

The results (with Danish and French parents) have been published in the journal Social Science & Medicine  and are available in the link:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113636

Implications of the research for health professionals are explained in this Infographic

ESR8, nutrition advice, parents, scocial media, sugar