YOU know its bad when health experts feel the need to issue a warning to young Aussies to remind them that TikTok is not the best place to turn to for medical advice.
Lisa Renn, a spokesperson for Dieticians Association of Australia, told 3AW radio host Tom Elliott yesterday that young people are susceptible to following unreliable health advice being peddled by influencers on social media.
She explained, "it's actually quite concerning that this inaccurate information is popping up when people are searching for advice around poor body image".
"When these influencers are saying 'look at me, look how fabulous I am, this works, I only eat carrots', then it's really tempting to follow that."
Much of the advice being doled out by influencers consists of 'silver bullets' like fad diets, which can exacerbate health issues - instead, social medias users should pay close attention to who is giving out the health advice, Renn said.
"There is no doubt that there will be credible information on TikTok, on Instagram, on the other social media platforms, but...the person who's looking at that information needs to look more critically."
Essentially, unless the health advice is posted by a peak health body like the CSIRO, the Dietitians Association of Australia, or the Heart Foundation, then it should be taken with a grain of salt.
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