TikTok is a popular short-form video sharing platform where users post videos on a variety of topics. In 2023, 57% of Australian adults aged 18-24 used TikTok (1). Nutrition-related content is popular on TikTok, but conversations about nutrition may not be expert-led. Research is limited on the factors that contribute to popularity. This study aimed to characterise nutrition-related content and user engagement with the most popular TikTok videos and comments.
A selected group of the most common food and nutrition hashtags was searched weekly on TikTok in 2025. Searches were conducted on a university computer with cookies cleared, in incognito mode, and without a TikTok account to minimise personalisation. Hashtags were selected based on existing popularity and prior research including #nutrition, #diet, #dietitian and #WIEIAD and related variants. The top 5 videos, as they appeared in the search results, were extracted. Given the limited quantitative research on video comments, the top 5 comments on the video in display order were also captured (2-4). A predefined sampling frame yielded 201 popular food and nutrition TikTok videos and 1261 user comments. Videos and comments were analysed thematically in NVivo(5). Initial coding focused on descriptive features of the videos including presentation styles, presenter characteristics, ingredient and recipe choices, and terminology.
Of the 201 videos analysed, the apparent gender of 165 presenters was female and 30 male. Six videos had no identifiable presenter. Ninety-one videos (45%) contained dietary advice or nutrition-related health claims. Explicit claims were relatively rare, with most advice presented as personal anecdotes. Protein was the most frequently mentioned nutrient (n=64). Fibre was discussed in only 26 videos, 21 of those created by a nutritionist or dietitian, including 16 from the same four creators. This represented approximately 37% of dietitian/nutritionist videos containing a mention of fibre and fewer than 4% of videos by a non-professional. A word frequency search of user comments revealed a similar pattern with 61 comments mentioning protein, and only 15 eachmentioning fat and fibre. Explicit nutrition-related health claims were identified in 75 comments, with 38 introducing new health claims not in the corresponding video. Comments were coded where they expressed a clear emotional reaction, amusement was most common (n = 59). Negative emotional responses were also prevalent including disgust (n=26) disappointment (n=22) and despair (n=20). This is consistent with concerns that nutrition content on social media may influence attitudes towards food and eating (3,4).
Nutrition–related videos on Tik-Tok were frequently created by non-professionals disproportionately emphasising protein over other priority nutrition topics, including fibre. These findings support earlier research on TikTok nutrition content. Findings highlight the need for further research to better understand the platform, and the challenges and opportunities social media plays in public health nutrition communication.