Date Approved

2018

Degree Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department or School

Health Sciences

Committee Member

Anahita Mistry, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Judith Brooks, Ph.D., R.D.

Abstract

This study evaluated characteristics of food blogs and food bloggers that potentially affect food choices. It was hypothesized that most food bloggers would not have a nutrition-related degree and food blog environments wouldn’t be supportive of health-conscious food choices. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a novel evaluation tool on 187 blogs, out of which 100 blogs met inclusion criteria. Because some blogs had multiple bloggers, two samples were investigated: 111 bloggers (n1 = 111) and 100 food blogs (n2 = 100). Data were gathered from a randomized list of blogs taken from americanfoodbloggers.com. Results showed that 6% of bloggers had a nutrition-related degree, 28% of blogs were health oriented, 24% of blogs provided nutrition facts, 56% of blogs had recipe rating systems, and 94% of blogs published sponsored content. The study suggested that food blogs and food bloggers may not promote healthy food choices. However, more research is required.

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