Half of U.S. adults under 50 get health information from influencers who mostly aren’t medical professionals, Pew finds

Tens of millions of Americans now go to TikTok, Instagram and YouTube when they’re worried about their health.

A recent Pew Research survey found that half of U.S. adults under 50 turn to influencers and podcasts on mostly those three platforms when they’re trying to take better care of their health, and they stumble across the content rather than looking for it. 

While many of those health and wellness influencers position themselves as some kind of healthcare professional, Pew’s analysis found that the majority – moms, coaches and entrepreneurs – do not. Instead, they leverage their personal experiences losing weight, living with illnesses or being caregivers to dole out advice. 

Women – who made up two thirds of the health influencers – were more likely to signal expertise by sharing their life experiences, especially with children. They were three times more likely to refer to being a mom than men mentioned being a dad. 

Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans and those without health insurance are  “particularly likely” to get health advice from influencers, demographics that are Read Entire Article