Dieticians Top List of Health Influencers Who Promote Products in Most Posts, Pew Analysis Finds
By Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — A new Pew Research Center analysis of hundreds of thousands of health and wellness posts across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube finds that influencers who describe themselves as dieticians or nutritionists are more likely than any other background category to promote a product or service in a majority of their content.
The analysis, part of Pew’s report “What Do Health and Wellness Influencers Post About?” examined 535,512 posts published by 6,334 health and wellness influencers between February and April 2026. It categorized influencers based on the professional and personal backgrounds they list in their social media bios, then compared how often they promoted products or services. A promotion included not only paid sponsorships and affiliate links, but also recommendations of free products or services, according to the study.
The findings come at a time when growing numbers of Americans use social media for health information, and when regulators, platforms and consumer advocates have raised concerns about undisclosed endorsements, misinformation and the blurring of lines between education and advertising in the wellness space.
Product promotion is widespread, but not uniform
The Pew data shows that product and service promotion is common among nearly every type of health and wellness influencer, but the frequency varies widely depending on how the influencer describes their background.
Nearly half of health and wellness influencers who identify as dieticians or nutritionists — 43% — promote a product or service in a majority of their posts. They are followed closely by influencers who cite complementary, alternative and integrative health as their background, at 41%. Authors come in at 40%, entrepreneurs at 38%, and coaches at 37%. Researchers are next at 35%, followed by allied health professionals and conventional medicine practitioners, who are tied at 32%.
Influencers with no listed credentials are at 30%, a figure that sits in the middle of the full range. Mental health influencers are at 29%, while those who cite life experience as their primary background are at 26%. Athletes are at 25%, and activists are at the bottom of the list, with only 19% promoting a product or service in a majority of their posts.
That means there is a 24-percentage-point gap between the highest group — dieticians and nutritionists — and the lowest group, activists.
A closer look at the categories
The list of influencer backgrounds included in the Pew report reflects the wide range of people who create health and wellness content. Some are formally trained medical professionals. Others have authority based on personal experience, athletic achievement, research credentials, or simply a large and engaged following. The chart released by Pew breaks these groups out individually, and the ordering of the list offers a snapshot of how different pathways into wellness content creation may lead to different patterns of monetization.
Dieticians and nutritionists, for example, are experts in food and diet. Their professional identity is closely linked to eating plans, meal replacements, supplements, gut health products and weight management tools. It is not surprising that brands in those spaces might seek them out for partnerships, and their professional credibility may make their recommendations especially valuable. At the same time, because the Pew definition of promotion is broad — including recommendations of free products and services — a simple mention of a food brand or a recipe app in a majority of posts would land an influencer in this category.
Complementary, alternative and integrative health influencers are the second-highest group, with 41% promoting in most of their posts. This category includes practitioners of modalities such as acupuncture, chiropractic care, herbal medicine, functional medicine and other approaches that sit outside or alongside conventional medical training. Influencers in this space often promote supplements, wellness devices, telehealth services, online courses and wellness retreats. Their relatively high rate of promotion may reflect the commercial nature of many complementary and alternative health offerings, which are frequently sold directly to consumers without a prescription.
Authors and entrepreneurs, at 40% and 38% respectively, are also near the top. Authors often use social media to sell books, guides and paid newsletters. Entrepreneurs, by definition, build businesses around their personal brand, so promoting products and services is a core activity. Coaches — including life coaches, health coaches, fitness coaches and mindset coaches — sit at 37%. Many coaches offer one-on-one sessions, group programs, digital products and webinars, all of which require continuous promotion to generate revenue.
Researchers, at 35%, are less likely than coaches and entrepreneurs to promote in most of their posts, but they still do so at a substantial rate. Some researchers may promote their own published work, university programs, or science communication projects. Meanwhile, allied health professionals and conventional medicine practitioners are both at 32%. These groups include physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, nurses, physicians and other medical providers. Their professional ethics and institutional obligations may make them more cautious about frequent promotions, but they still engage in product and service recommendation at meaningful levels.
What about influencers with no credentials?
One notable finding is that influencers with no credentials in their bios are not the most likely to promote products, nor are they the least. At 30%, they are more likely than mental health influencers, life experience influencers, athletes and activists to promote in a majority of their posts. They are also close to allied health professionals and conventional medicine practitioners, both at 32%.
This complicates the assumption that uncredentialed influencers are always the most commercialized. While a complete lack of credentials can raise concerns about the reliability of health advice, the Pew data suggests that people without formal health credentials are not the ones who most frequently push products and services on their audiences. Instead, the highest promotion rates appear among groups that have some professional identity tied to nutritional or wellness expertise.
Mental health influencers, at 29%, are lower on the list. This may reflect a growing awareness in the mental health community about the importance of boundaries and ethical marketing, especially because mental health advice involves vulnerable audiences. Life experience influencers, such as people who share personal journeys with chronic illness, cancer, weight loss or disability, are at 26%. Athletes are at 25%, which is also lower than many might expect given the prevalence of sports supplement and apparel sponsorships in the broader influencer economy.
Activists are the least likely to promote products or services in a majority of their posts, at 19%. Health and wellness activists often use their platforms to advocate for policy changes, public health education, patient rights, or environmental and social issues related to food and medicine. Their content may be more focused on advocacy messages than on consumer products, which could explain their lower promotion rate.
What counts as a promotion?
Pew’s definition of promotion is intentionally broad. According to the note accompanying the chart, posts that contain a promotion include those that recommend both paid and free products and services. That means an influencer who frequently suggests a particular type of supplement, a meditation app, a workout program, a book, a clinic, a meal delivery service, or even a free online resource would be counted as promoting a product or service. The data does not distinguish between posts that include sponsorship disclosures and those that do not, nor does it reveal whether the influencer received money, free products, or no compensation at all.
This broad definition is helpful because it captures the full range of ways influencers shape consumer behavior. A single casual recommendation can be just as powerful as a formal advertisement, particularly when it comes from someone the audience trusts. At the same time, the broad definition means that the promotion rates should not be read as a direct measure of paid influencer marketing. Some of the promotions may be entirely unpaid recommendations that the influencer believes will help their audience.
Why the findings matter
The Pew analysis is significant because health and wellness content is one of the most popular and influential niches on social media. People use these platforms to learn about symptoms, treatments, diets, supplements, exercise routines and mental health strategies. Influencers often feel more relatable and accessible than doctors or scientists, which makes their recommendations especially persuasive.
But frequent promotion of products and services can create conflicts of interest. If an influencer’s main source of income is brand deals, referral commissions or sales of their own products, their advice may be shaped by commercial incentives. Even when the promotion is free and well intentioned, the repetition of recommendations can blur the line between genuine expertise and marketing.
For consumers, the findings serve as a reminder to think carefully about the motivations behind health recommendations online. An influencer with a strong credential, such as a dietician or nutritionist, may be more knowledgeable than a random poster, but they may also be more likely to regularly recommend products. Conversely, an influencer with no credentials may still offer helpful encouragement and support, even if they are less likely to push a product in most posts.
The findings also raise questions for regulators and platforms. If many health and wellness influencers routinely promote products in a majority of their content, efforts to improve disclosure and transparency become even more important. Platforms may need to consider how to distinguish between educational health content and commercial endorsements, and regulators may need to clarify how existing advertising rules apply to social media health advice.
A large-scale picture of the wellness influencer economy
The scale of the Pew analysis adds weight to these conclusions. More than half a million posts were examined over a three-month period, making it one of the more systematic looks at health and wellness content on social media. The sample includes content from three major platforms — Instagram, TikTok and YouTube — each with its own norms around influencers, advertising and audience engagement.
The report’s reliance on social media bios for classification is also worth noting. The categories are based on how influencers describe themselves, not on verified professional credentials. In that sense, the labels are self-identified. An influencer may call themselves a “nutritionist” without a formal degree, or an “author” with only a self-published book. The data is therefore a measure of self-presentation, which is itself important for understanding how influencers build authority in the wellness space.
Still, self-presentation matters. Audiences respond to the identity signals that influencers project, and influencers often choose the labels they think will attract attention and trust. Comparing promotion rates across those labels shows that the image an influencer projects is connected to how they monetize their platform.
Looking ahead
The Pew report provides a valuable starting point for further research. Future studies could examine the types of products and services being promoted by each group, whether promotions are disclosed as paid partnerships, how frequently influencers recommend their own offerings versus third-party products, and how audiences react to repeated promotion. Researchers could also study how the relationship between influencer background and promotion changes over time, especially as social media platforms update their policies and users become more savvy about influencer marketing.
The broader lesson from the data is that health and wellness influencers are not a monolithic group. A dietician sharing branded meal plan supplements is operating in a very different context from an athlete discussing recovery gear, and both are different from an activist calling for healthier school lunches. The Pew analysis makes those differences visible and gives the public a clearer picture of how the health content they see online is connected to the wider commercial ecosystem.
In a media environment where health advice can be persuasive and difficult to evaluate, knowing who is promoting what — and how often — is essential. The Pew Research Center report, with its detailed look at promotion frequency by influencer background, offers exactly that kind of clarity. As more people turn to social media for answers about their health, understanding the influence behind those answers has never been more important.
The full report, “What Do Health and Wellness Influencers Post About?” is available from the Pew Research Center. The analysis covers 535,512 Instagram, TikTok and YouTube posts published by 6,334 health and wellness influencers from February to April 2026.
