{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T05:06:14Z","timestamp":1790139974866,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790121600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Social media has become an important source of nutrition and weight-loss information among young adults, but concerns persist regarding its quality and reliability, and its influence on weight-loss outcomes remains unclear. This study assessed the prevalence of social media as a weight-loss information source, compared its self-reported outcomes with those of traditional sources such as nutritionists, and examined its association with unhealthy weight-loss behaviors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A cross-sectional online survey was conducted using convenience and snowball sampling among Arab young adults residing in the United Arab Emirates. Of 697 respondents, 305 met the inclusion criteria: all were overweight or obese at baseline and reported an intentional weight-loss attempt within the previous 12\u202fmonths. Participants were categorized by their primary source of weight-loss information; social media, nutritionist, health provider, specialized website, or other sources. Weight-loss success was defined as a \u22655% reduction in initial body weight; unhealthy weight-loss practices were also assessed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Participants had a mean age of 26.6\u202f\u00b1\u202f6.9\u202fyears and a mean body mass index of 31.6\u202f\u00b1\u202f6.0\u202fkg\/m\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      ; 76.4% were female. Social media was the most reported primary source (39.3%), and 241 participants (79.0%) overall achieved \u22655% weight loss. Weight-loss success was similar between social media users (86.7%) and nutritionist users (82.5%), as was the prevalence of unhealthy weight-loss practices (59.2 and 60.3%, respectively); these descriptive comparisons were not formally tested for statistical equivalence. Younger age, lower educational attainment, and overweight status were significantly associated with high reliance on social media (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Social media is widely used for weight-loss information among young adults and appears associated with self-reported outcomes similar to those of traditional sources such as nutritionists, although the cross-sectional, self-reported design precludes conclusions about comparative effectiveness. Because the sample was restricted to motivated young adults with overweight or obesity, these exploratory, hypothesis-generating findings should be interpreted within this context rather than generalized. They tentatively suggest that public health strategies might enhance the accuracy and credibility of weight-loss content on social media rather than discourage its use, a direction requiring confirmation in studies that directly assess content quality and creator credentials.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1912985","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T04:43:51Z","timestamp":1790138631000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Social media as a self-reported source of weight-loss information: a cross-sectional comparison with traditional sources among Arab young adults"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Mo\u2019ath F.","family":"Bataineh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University","place":["Al Ain, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rubina","family":"Sabir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University","place":["Al Ain, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ali M.","family":"Al-Nawaiseh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport Rehabilitation, College of Sport Sciences, The Hashemite University","place":["Zarqa, Jordan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hafiz M.","family":"Shahbaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University","place":["Al Ain, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amjad H.","family":"Jarrar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University","place":["Al Ain, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Habiba I.","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University","place":["Al Ain, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Leila","family":"Cheikh Ismail","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah","place":["Sharjah, United Arab Emirates"]},{"name":"Nuffield Department of Women\u2019s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford","place":["Oxford, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ayesha S.","family":"Al Dhaheri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University","place":["Al Ain, United Arab Emirates"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2417","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2018.16865","article-title":"Addressing health-related misinformation on social media","volume":"320","author":"Chou","year":"2018","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8493","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18168493","article-title":"Use and effectiveness of social-media-delivered weight loss interventions among teenagers and young adults: a systematic review","volume":"18","author":"Lozano-Chacon","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public 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