Health Issues: Social Media versus Clinical

During my recent studies, I was struck by the disparity between clinical health and nutrition issues and what social media claims they are.

It’s frustrating to see influencers recycle the same buzzwords and one-size-fits-all promises around fat loss and protein intake. Surely, we should be starting to understand that nutrition, people and their individual situations are far more complex.

Obesity, for example, is shaped by issues ranging from poverty to the gut–brain axis and there’s a plethora of factors in between. If answers were simple, 64% of UK adults wouldn’t be overweight or obese, the numbers of nutrient deficient young people wouldn't be rising and over 17 million people wouldn’t die annually from preventable cardiovascular disease.

Coaches, nutritionists, influencers and our government have a responsibility to move beyond quick fixes. For example, at the legislative level, between 1992 and 2020, UK governments launched 693 obesity-related policies, of which only 19% were evidence-based.

In one case, plans to restrict excessively unhealthy foods were dropped after negotiations that saw food industry lobbying fund a £70 million government initiative instead.

Meanwhile, nutrient deficiencies remain widespread:
- 21% of teens fall below lower reference nutrient intakes (LRNI) for vitamin A.
- 50% of girls for iron.
- 10–15% of young people for calcium.
- 50% of boys and 33% of girls for magnesium.

We need policies that:
✅ Make fruit and veg affordable and accessible.
✅ Strengthen nutrition education early.
✅ Base decisions on science, not profit and politics.
✅Look beyond the next election cycle.

Health isn’t just about calories or protein! Yes, remaining a healthy weight and eating enough protein is part of it but without adequate nutrients, our bodies can’t function in a healthy state and we become more susceptible to developing many preventable health conditions.

After decades of quick fixes, 95% of people who lose weight still regain it. It’s time to think bigger. Could giving organisations like the World Health Organisation stronger powers to enforce evidence-based policy rather than just recommend it be a step in the right direction?

These policies shouldn’t be seen as costs but investments that could reduce future healthcare spending. Nutrition and health are not simple so it’s time we stopped pretending they are.

PMID: 32204478, 33464689