Nutritionists as digital influencers: Ethical dilemmas and implications for professional practice

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze whether publications made by nutritionists on Instagram comply with the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Nutritionists. An exploratory documentary research with a qualitativequantitative approach was conducted. The search terms “nutri” and “nutritionist” were used to search for profiles, including Brazilian nutritionists with more than 15,000 followers and publicly accessible accounts. Thus, 250 posts from 50 professional profiles were exported to the ATLAS.ti software, where compliance with the Code of Ethics was analyzed. The results indicated a high frequency of ethical infractions, such as lack of professional identification, lack of technical-scientific support in publications, omission of information about the variability of results, and use of marketing strategies for commercial purposes. It is concluded that there are weaknesses in the ethical conduct of nutritionists in the digital environment, highlighting the need for more rigorous training and regulatory updates that keep pace with the dynamics of social networks.