title: Accuracy of weight loss information in Spanish search engine results on the internet.
abstract: To systematically assess the quality of online information related to weight loss that Spanish speakers in the U.S. are likely to access.
  
  
  
  This study evaluated the accessibility and quality of information for websites that were identified from weight loss queries in Spanish and compared this with previously published results in English. The content was scored with respect to five dimensions: nutrition, physical activity, behavior, pharmacotherapy, and surgical recommendations.
  
  
  
  Sixty-six websites met eligibility criteria (21 commercial, 24 news/media, 10 blogs, 0 medical/government/university, 11 unclassified sites). Of 16 possible points, mean content quality score was 3.4 (SD = 2.0). Approximately 1.5% of sites scored greater than 8 (out of 12) on nutrition, physical activity, and behavior. Unsubstantiated claims were made on 94% of the websites. Content quality scores varied significantly by type of website (P < 0.0001) with unclassified websites scoring the highest (mean = 6.3, SD = 1.4) and blogs scoring the lowest (mean = 2.2, SD = 1.2). All content quality scores were lower for Spanish websites relative to English websites.
  
  
  
  Weight loss information accessed in Spanish Web searches is suboptimal and relatively worse than weight loss information accessed in English, suggesting that U.S. Spanish speakers accessing weight loss information online may be provided with incomplete and inaccurate information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. mcardel@ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Michelle I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Cardel
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chavez
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Eribeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Peñaranda
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Darci R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Tianyao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Modave
mesh_terms: D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000068598:Data Accuracy; D015438:Health Behavior; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007802:Language; D008402:Mass Media; D057386:Search Engine / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D015431:Weight Loss