Kaplan, Yusuf Cem İzmir Katip Çelebi University - School of Medicine - Department of Medical Pharmacology, Turkey , Demir, Ömer Adnan Menderes University - School of Medicine - Department of Medical Pharmacology, Turkey , Karadaş, Barış İzmir Atatürk Teaching and Research Hospital - Clinical Pharmacology Toxicology Unit, Turkey , Kaplan, Melike Demirbağ İzmir University of Economics - Department of Business Administration, Turkey

Online weight loss supplement market and public health: An analysis of Turkish websites marketing weight loss supplements

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Aim. The Internet is becoming the primary tool of purchasing weight loss supplements since it is easily accessible to the consumers. When the uncontrollable nature of the Internet and the public’s general tendency to use these supplements are considered together, the information conveyed to general audience in such websites become of great importance in the context of public health. This study aimed to analyze the quality and the quantity of the information conveyed to the consumers by Turkish websites marketing weight loss supplements. Method. This study was carried out between June and October, 2009. and a keyword search with the search query strings “weight loss drug” and “herbal weight loss” in Turkish conducted using Google to found websites of first 50 results of each search which were in Turkish and accessible to Turkish people and marketing these products Results. In majority of the websites, the information provided was found to be inadequate and misleading. Conclusion. Raising the public awareness and bringing restrictions of online marketing of these kinds of supplements are the urgent priorities to protect consumers from possible health risks.

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Weight loss supplements , herbal weight loss , internet , online , marketing , safety , public health

Cumhuriyet Medical Journal

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