When “Healthy” Isn’t Healthy: What Young People See on Social Media

Scroll through social media, and you’ll find countless food posts presented as “healthy,” “clean,” or “balanced.”

But how accurate are these messages?

CUES findings from a photovoice study reveal a clear gap between how food is portrayed online and what dietary guidelines actually recommend. Participants collected screenshots directly from their own social media feeds, capturing the types of food content they encounter in everyday digital environments. In the analysed content, 67.2% of the posts included foods with low nutritional quality, such as red or processed meat, sugar, or refined ingredients. In addition, 29.9% of posts directly contradicted dietary guidelines, most often by promoting excessive portions of red meat.

At the same time, much of the content was not perceived as problematic by participants. In fact, 73.3% of posts were recipes or meal inspiration, which participants often described as useful, appealing, and easy to follow. Because these posts are seen as inspiration rather than advice, they are less likely to be questioned.

This creates space for subtle misinformation to spread unnoticed — not necessarily through obvious false claims, but through repeated exposure to unrealistic portion sizes, simplified nutrition trends, or incomplete representations of balanced meals.

Repetition further strengthens this effect. When certain foods or dietary patterns appear frequently in social media feeds, they begin to feel familiar and credible. Over time, this repeated exposure shapes what young people believe is healthy, even when it does not align with official recommendations.

The findings highlight an important challenge for digital food environments:
👉 misinformation on social media is not always obvious—it can be subtle, repeated, and embedded in everyday content.

Supporting better food choices therefore, requires not only providing accurate information, but also helping consumers recognise and critically assess what they see online.

👉 Read more: https://cuesproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1-s2.0-S0195666326001133-main.pdf