Abstract
BackgroundAlthough Pinterest has become a popular platform for distributing influential information that shapes users’ behaviors, the role of recipes pinned on Pinterest in these behaviors is not well understood.ObjectiveThis study aims to explore the patterns of food ingredients and the nutritional content of recipes posted on Pinterest and to examine the factors associated with recipes that engage more users.MethodsData were collected from Pinterest between June 28 and July 12, 2020 (207 recipes and 2818 comments). All samples were collected via 2 new user accounts with no search history. A codebook was developed with a raw agreement rate of 0.97 across all variables. Content analysis and natural language processing sentiment analysis techniques were employed.ResultsRecipes using seafood or vegetables as the main ingredient had, on average, fewer calories and less sodium, sugar, and cholesterol than meat- or poultry-based recipes. For recipes using meat as the main ingredient, more than half of the energy was obtained from fat (277/490, 56.6%). Although the most followed pinners tended to post recipes containing more poultry or seafood and less meat, recipes with higher fat content or providing more calories per serving were more popular, having more shared photos or videos and comments. The natural language processing–based sentiment analysis suggested that Pinterest users weighted taste more heavily than complexity (225/2818, 8.0%) and health (84/2828, 2.9%).ConclusionsAlthough popular pinners tended to post recipes with more seafood or poultry or vegetables and less meat, recipes with higher fat and sugar content were more user-engaging, with more photo or video shares and comments. Data on Pinterest behaviors can inform the development and implementation of nutrition health interventions to promote healthy recipe sharing on social media platforms.
Highlights
BackgroundHealthy eating patterns and their effect on disease prevention have been demonstrated robustly across the scientific literature [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
Between 2003 and 2016, the intake of sugar by Americans decreased by 4.8 teaspoons per day, no appreciable changes occurred in the intake of vegetables, total meat, poultry, and seafood [10]
From 2003-2004 to 2015-2016, Americans increased whole grain consumption, the mean intake of grains, vegetables, and dairy continued to be lower than the Dietary Guidelines recommendations [10]
Summary
BackgroundHealthy eating patterns and their effect on disease prevention have been demonstrated robustly across the scientific literature [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. In 2015, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee published the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, providing guidance for choosing a healthy diet Despite such efforts, between 2003 and 2016, the intake of sugar by Americans decreased by 4.8 teaspoons per day, no appreciable changes occurred in the intake of vegetables, total meat, poultry, and seafood [10]. The most followed pinners tended to post recipes containing more poultry or seafood and less meat, recipes with higher fat content or providing more calories per serving were more popular, having more shared photos or videos and comments. Conclusions: popular pinners tended to post recipes with more seafood or poultry or vegetables and less meat, recipes with higher fat and sugar content were more user-engaging, with more photo or video shares and comments. Data on Pinterest behaviors can inform the development and implementation of nutrition health interventions to promote healthy recipe sharing on social media platforms
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