Social media posts spread misleading information about the use of hookah – ScienceDaily

. Hookah Hook Up among Youth and Students, a team of researchers from Florida International University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Miami, the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies and the University of 39; University of Pittsburgh has selected 279 posts on 11,517 hookah or #shisha within four days. Of the narghile publications:

• 99.6% reported positive feelings toward the use of hookah
• Only one article (0.4%) mentioned negative health effects badociated with Hookah use
• 63.8% were promotional in nature
• Most publications were badociated with nightlife, community and hookah identity

The authors wrote: " More and more evidence suggests that narghile can lead to nicotine addiction and many other smoking-related diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and "

The researchers also noted that 10% of all messages used the #HookahAddiction hashtag, signaling that nicotine addiction is not perceived as a health risk that would discourage potential users. The researchers commented that policy makers and others should explore approaches to reducing the number of promotional posts, for example, by creating campaigns to counter sell the positive themes presented on social media.

"This study represents an important step in identifying themes on Instagram and demonstrates the value of using data from this social platform to complement and expand our understanding of health behaviors," wrote authors Ben Taleb et al. "These findings may inform the design of future tobacco control media campaigns aimed at counteracting the normalization of the use of hookah on social media."

Research also suggests that 39, it is a global phenomenon, with a majority of 38.5%), the United States (18.6%) and Germany (10.7%). [19659011] History Sourc e:

Materials provided by SAGE . Note: Content can be changed in style and length.