{"id":301967,"date":"2026-05-07T10:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=301967"},"modified":"2026-05-07T12:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:26:07","slug":"moms-coaches-doctors-entrepreneurs-who-are-americas-health-and-wellness-influencers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/data-labs\/2026\/05\/07\/moms-coaches-doctors-entrepreneurs-who-are-americas-health-and-wellness-influencers\/","title":{"rendered":"Moms, Coaches, Doctors, Entrepreneurs: Who Are America\u2019s Health and Wellness Influencers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half of U.S. adults under 50 say they get health and wellness information from social media influencers or podcasts. About 4 in 10 of these influencers describe themselves as health care professionals; coaches and entrepreneurs are almost as common
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Photos, left to right: Barbara Lorena Vergarargara, Eleganza, MStudioImages and FujiCraft, all via Getty Images. Photo illustration by Pew Research Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
About this research<\/summary>\n

This study looks at health and<\/strong> wellness influencers<\/strong> \u2013 individuals with large audiences online who provide information about health and wellness, largely on social media. It includes an in-depth analysis of these influencers\u2019 social media presence, including who they are and how they describe themselves. It also takes a deep dive into Americans\u2019 experiences with getting health and wellness information from social media influencers and podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Medical professionals remain the most common source of health information<\/a> among U.S. adults. But many get information about their health from sources outside of the doctor\u2019s office, including social media. We conducted this study to better understand who the public might be hearing from when they get health and wellness information on social media and to explore the experiences and motivations of those who engage with this information on these sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This analysis is based on two main data sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first is an analysis of 12,800 social media accounts belonging to 6,828 prominent health and wellness influencers.<\/strong> The influencers included in the study have at least one account with more than 100,000 followers on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok and post health and wellness content in English aimed at a U.S. audience (or are owned by the hosts of a top-ranked podcast that features this content). We analyzed their profiles to see who these influencers are and how they describe themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is more information about how we identified the influencers<\/a> included in this study and how we defined the different topics and categories<\/a> we measured in the analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second set of data comes from two surveys of U.S. adults that asked about their experiences getting health and wellness information from social media influencers and podcasts.<\/strong> One was conducted in June 2025 among 5,023 U.S. adults, and the other was conducted in October 2025 among 5,111 U.S. adults. Both were fielded on Pew Research Center\u2019s American Trends Panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the survey questions<\/a> used for this report, the detailed responses<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Most Americans say it\u2019s important to be healthy<\/a>, but fewer think they are doing a good job at managing their own health. They also report significant challenges figuring out the best way to reach their health goals: Around half of the public says they struggle to know which health information is accurate<\/a>, and most have encountered conflicting advice about their health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vast majority of U.S. adults turn to health care providers for guidance through this confusing landscape. But four-in-ten U.S. adults (and half of those under 50) now get health and wellness information from social media influencers and podcasts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about who these influencers are and how they present themselves to the world, we identified 6,828 individuals with at least 100,000 followers on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram that regularly post about health and wellness and analyzed their social media profiles. We paired this analysis with two surveys of U.S. adults that asked about their experiences with health and wellness influencers. Some of the key findings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n