Health advice on social media is rampant, and it is more important than ever to be aware that not every “Health Guru” on Social Media is the real deal. Social media has transformed how we consume health advice, with platforms like Instagram filled with influencers offering wellness tips, beauty advice, and even medical guidance. However, as convenient as this may seem, parents must be cautious and ensure their children know the dangers. This is because not everyone sharing health content online is a qualified expert.
The Rise of Health Advice on Social Media
A recent review of over 50 academic papers on healthcare professionals on social media revealed some alarming trends. While many licensed experts use the platform to educate, countless others share unverified advice, often without the proper credentials. The research investigated the types of content healthcare professionals post, engagement metrics, and ethical concerns around credentials, image editing, content quality, and patient confidentiality.
Let’s discuss the key risks every digital-savvy parent should know and how to use them as teachable moments for their children.
1. Lack of Verified Medical Credentials
One of the biggest concerns is that many Instagram health accounts do not disclose or prove the poster’s medical qualifications. Some use the title “Dr.” or claim to be specialists, such as “cosmetic surgeons,” without proper certification or licenses.
Parent Tip: Before trusting any health advice, verify the poster’s qualifications through credible sources like medical boards or professional directories.
What to Share with Your Child: “Just because someone says they’re an expert doesn’t make it true. Let’s look up what makes someone a real doctor or health professional and how to tell the difference.”
2. Misleading Before-and-After Photos
Instagram thrives on visuals. But before-and-after transformation photos often exaggerate results with filters, lighting tricks, or facial expressions. What looks like a miracle transformation could be a cleverly edited post.
Parent Tip: Help your children understand the power of editing and encourage them not to compare themselves to unrealistic images online.
What to Share with Your Child: “Many pictures online are edited to look perfect. That’s not real life. Let’s look at some examples of how filters can change how people look in just seconds.”
3. Unreliable or Unverified Health Claims
Many so-called health tips on Instagram lack any real medical backing. In fact, the study found that very few posts cite credible research or link to authoritative health sources like the World Health Organization (WHO) or the CDC.
Parent Tip: Look for content referencing trusted research, and teach your children to question health claims that seem too good to be true.
What to Share with Your Child: “When someone says something about health, it’s important to ask, ‘Where did they get that information?’ Let’s practice looking up whether something is supported by science or not.”
What Can Parents Do To Be Intentional Digital Guides?
As parents raising children in a digital world, it’s essential to go beyond warnings and actively teach your children how to question, verify, and discuss the health content they encounter online. Below are five ways to guide your family, each with a real-life example and conversation starter to help your child build digital literacy and emotional resilience.
1. Verify Before You Trust
As parents, teach your children to verify the health advice they see online before trusting the source. Always check whether someone sharing health advice is qualified. Look for clear credentials or verify their expertise on medical boards or professional websites.
For example, share the case of Belle Gibson’s fabricated journey on Instagram. Who is she? Belle Gibson, an Australian popular wellness influencer, claimed she cured her terminal brain cancer with natural remedies. She built a huge following and even published a cookbook, until it was revealed she never had cancer at all. Her deception led to public outrage and legal action.
What to Share with Your Child: “Let’s look at Belle Gibson’s story together. It shows how someone can go viral even while spreading false health claims. We should always double-check someone’s background before believing or sharing their advice.” To bring it to light you could also watch the show on Netflix which documents her story and the real impact on individuals and their families.
There are now believed to be an estimated 50,000 fitness and wellness influencers on Instagram, and this month alone, the hashtag #wellnessinfluencer has already been used 23.3M times on TikTok (BBC). Share on X
2. Watch for Edited Content
Teach your children that images on social media are often heavily edited, especially when it comes to health advice being given on social media. Filters, lighting, and angles can make results appear more dramatic than they actually are.
For example, share with them and show them how Instagram and TikTok are full of before-and-after fitness or skincare transformations that turn out to be edited or staged. Influencers have often been caught using filters or Photoshop to exaggerate results. For example, the ‘SkinnyTok’ trend on TikTok promotes extreme thinness and unhealthy eating habits. This movement has been linked to a rise in eating disorders among young people by glorifying dangerous weight loss methods.
What to Share with Your Child: “Let’s try using a filter together and see how it changes a photo. This helps us see how easy it is to create ‘perfect’ pictures that aren’t real.”
3. Seek Credible Sources
Parents must encourage their children to question where information and any health advice on social media comes from. Teach time to ask whether the posts link to real research and whether they reference trusted health organizations like the WHO or CDC?
For example, A study from the University of British Columbia found that less than 50% of the top TikTok videos on ADHD contained accurate information. In addition, more than half of the claims about ADHD on TikTok lacked any scientific backing. Many of these videos encouraged self-diagnosis and spread misinformation. In addition, many of these videos often romanticize ADHD, leading to a misunderstanding of the condition.
What to Share with Your Child: No matter the trend online, it is important to ask, ‘Where is this information coming from?’ Additionally, researchers have found that people are 5 to 11 times more likely to incorrectly diagnose themselves when it comes to trying to self-diagnose a mental illness.
Many content creators use ADHD misinformation to pursue their own profit. The study found that about half of the creators observed used their videos to sell products or coaching, despite none of them being licensed mental health… Share on X” username=”lagosmums”]
4. Protect Privacy
Parents must be cautious about sharing health details, especially about their children. It is important to model and teach boundaries around personal information online. Teach your children that the algorithms can push certain content their way based on the information shared online.
For example, some influencers, like Janelle Rohner, have promoted health programs while privately using weight loss medications without disclosing it to their followers. This kind of selective sharing can erode trust and mislead impressionable users online who believe what they see online as the path to achieving a particular body outcome.
What to Share with Your Child: “Sometimes people only share parts of their story online. You don’t have to post everything about yourself, especially personal health details. Your privacy matters more than likes. In addition, influencers offering health advice online can make mistakes or intentionally hide information and share all sides of the story.”
Verify Before You Trust
Parents, as the most influential influencers, can teach Digital Literacy with real-world examples. They can also show your children how influencers are often paid to promote products and how trends can promote harmful habits. These real-life examples highlight why it’s so crucial for parents to stay engaged, not fearful, when guiding their children online. You don’t need to know everything, but you do need to be present, ask questions, and teach your children how to think critically.
By integrating these conversations into your everyday parenting, you empower your children to separate fact from fiction in the digital world, setting them up for lifelong digital well-being.
Want more tips on raising digitally savvy, emotionally resilient children? Subscribe to Yetty Williams’ Digital Parenting newsletter here and take the Digital Parenting Quiz to learn your digital parenting archetype today!
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