Research pick: A new recipe for clinical nutrition using social networking - "The impact of social networks in the area of clinical nutrition: dietitians’ perspective"

Huge numbers of people use social networking every day, perhaps half the world’s population. Many of these platforms go way beyond simple socializing and most have much broader applications that can touch on all aspects of our lives, including clinical nutrition.

A recent study in the International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management has looked at social networking from the perspective of dietitians. Cátia Andrade Moreira and Tânia Saraiva of Lisbon Accounting and Business School and Elisabete Carolino of the Lisbon School of Health Technology in Portugal have examined in detail how social networks can influence the effectiveness of nutritional interventions.

The team reports that more than half of dieticians (56.2%) use social networking in their professional lives. Interestingly, the two most popular systems are the photo and video-sharing application Instagram and the networking site Facebook. The research shows that a large majority of dieticians (84.4%) saw a significant increase in their total consultations compared to when they were not using social networking. Critically, these dietitians retained more than three-quarters of their clientele, which suggests that social networking activity was boosting their impact on clients and so the dieticians’ income.

An important aspect of the study was to discern whether the use of social networking by dieticians was beneficial to their clients. Indeed, more than half of the dieticians studied found that online interactions were equally as effective as the more conventional face-to-face approach to interactions with their clients. As an example, about one-third of dieticians reported that up to three-quarters of their clients experienced weight loss under their guidance through social networking.

The findings could have broad implications. As online service demand has increased in recent years, partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, dieticians and others are now recognising the business opportunities and finding ways to use social networking to help them navigate challenging markets. Digital entrepreneurship is on the rise and while specific social networking sites and applications may evolve, they remain more than simple communication tools and offer those with the requisite skills opportunities to change how they work for the benefit of their businesses and their clients and customers.

Moreira, C.A., Saraiva, T., and Carolino, E. (2023) ‘The impact of social networks in the area of clinical nutrition: dietitians’ perspective’, Int. J. Healthcare Technology and Management, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp.348–364.