Do most "health" influencers actually have training in healthcare?
- snitzoid
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
I have decided to become a health influencer, given I'm a political, military strategy, and economics influencer. And mindfulness! Did I mention I offer a 10 week course in understand your homicidal tendencies?
Moms, Coaches, Doctors, Entrepreneurs: Who Are America’s Health and Wellness Influencers?
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
By Galen Stocking, Regina Widjaya, Anna Lieb, Kaitlyn Radde, Aaron Smithand, Eileen Yam, PEW Research
July 18, 2026
Most Americans say it’s important to be healthy, 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, and most have encountered conflicting advice about their health.
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.
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:
Health and wellness influencers claim a wide range of backgrounds from inside and outside the world of medicine: 41% describe themselves as some sort of health care professional, and around three-in-ten each say they are coaches (31%) or entrepreneurs (28%).
Around two-thirds of these influencers are women. But men are more heavily represented for certain backgrounds (like doctors) and among the most popular health and wellness influencers.
Many draw on their life experiences. Health and wellness influencers who are women are especially likely to cite their background as a parent.
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Who gets health and wellness information from influencers?
Four-in-ten U.S. adults – and half of those under the age of 50 – say they ever get health and wellness information from social media influencers or podcasts. This is similar to the share who at least sometimes gets health information from social media in general.
Certain groups are particularly likely to say they get health and wellness information from these influencers, including adults under 50; Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans; and those without health insurance.
Where are health and wellness influencers found online?
Health and wellness influencers tend to congregate on social media sites that are centered around images or videos, rather than text.
Nearly all of the influencers we studied have an account on Instagram (86%), and substantial shares have accounts on video-focused sites like TikTok (62%) and YouTube (45%).
These influencers are less likely to be on other sites. About one-in-five are on Facebook (19%) and one-in-ten are on X (formerly Twitter). A number of other sites contain small shares of them (3% or less each). Most health and wellness influencers don’t maintain a particularly broad presence: The accounts we looked at for this study maintain an account on just two social media sites on average
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