TY - JOUR
T1 - Misinformation in nutrition through the case of coconut oil
T2 - An online before-and-after study
AU - Duarte, Ana C.
AU - Spiazzi, Bernardo Frison
AU - Merello, Eduarda Nunes
AU - Amazarray, Carmen Raya
AU - Sulzbach de Andrade, Laura
AU - Socal, Mariana P.
AU - Trujillo, Antonio J.
AU - Brietzke, Elisa
AU - Colpani, Verônica
AU - Gerchman, Fernando
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre Research Incentive Fund (FIPE-HCPA project 2018-0393), Division of Research of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (PROPESQ-UFRGS) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) . FIPE-HCPA, PROPESQ-UFRGS and CAPES had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Background and aims: Despite recent scientific evidence indicating absence of cardiometabolic benefit resulting from coconut oil intake, its consumption has increased in recent years, which can be attributed to a promotion of its use on social networks. We evaluated the patterns, reasons and beliefs related to coconut oil consumption and its perceived benefits in an online survey of a population in southern Brazil. Methods and results: We conducted a before-and-after study using an 11-item online questionnaire that evaluated coconut oil consumption. In the same survey, participants who consumed coconut oil received an intervention to increase literacy about the health effects of coconut oil intake. We obtained 3160 valid responses. Among participants who consumed coconut oil (59.1%), 82.5% considered it healthy and 65.4% used it at least once a month. 81.2% coconut oil consumers did not observe any health improvements. After being exposed to the conclusions of a meta-analysis showing that coconut oil does not show superior health benefits when compared to other oils and fats, 73.5% of those who considered coconut oil healthy did not change their opinion. Among individuals who did not consume coconut oil, 47.6% considered it expensive and 11.6% deemed it unhealthy. Conclusions: Coconut oil consumption is motivated by the responders’ own beliefs in its supposed health benefits, despite what scientific research demonstrates. This highlights the difficulty in deconstructing inappropriate concepts of healthy diets that are disseminated in society.
AB - Background and aims: Despite recent scientific evidence indicating absence of cardiometabolic benefit resulting from coconut oil intake, its consumption has increased in recent years, which can be attributed to a promotion of its use on social networks. We evaluated the patterns, reasons and beliefs related to coconut oil consumption and its perceived benefits in an online survey of a population in southern Brazil. Methods and results: We conducted a before-and-after study using an 11-item online questionnaire that evaluated coconut oil consumption. In the same survey, participants who consumed coconut oil received an intervention to increase literacy about the health effects of coconut oil intake. We obtained 3160 valid responses. Among participants who consumed coconut oil (59.1%), 82.5% considered it healthy and 65.4% used it at least once a month. 81.2% coconut oil consumers did not observe any health improvements. After being exposed to the conclusions of a meta-analysis showing that coconut oil does not show superior health benefits when compared to other oils and fats, 73.5% of those who considered coconut oil healthy did not change their opinion. Among individuals who did not consume coconut oil, 47.6% considered it expensive and 11.6% deemed it unhealthy. Conclusions: Coconut oil consumption is motivated by the responders’ own beliefs in its supposed health benefits, despite what scientific research demonstrates. This highlights the difficulty in deconstructing inappropriate concepts of healthy diets that are disseminated in society.
KW - Coconut oil
KW - Health information
KW - Internet
KW - Online
KW - Social media
KW - Survey
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U2 - 10.1016/j.numecd.2022.02.002
DO - 10.1016/j.numecd.2022.02.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 35282978
AN - SCOPUS:85126139621
SN - 0939-4753
VL - 32
SP - 1375
EP - 1384
JO - Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases
JF - Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases
IS - 6
ER -