Tracking Health on Twitter

Some of our health decisions are at least in part a product of where we live. For example, it might be more tempting to buy a fast food burger if there are few restaurants and grocery stores with healthy choices nearby. But historically it has been difficult for epidemiologists to get a handle on factors that influence the health within specific neighborhoods. In a project called Hashtag Health, Quynh Nguyen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of Health Promotion and Education at the University of Utah, is using Twitter to track some of these factors and how they impact communities. She talks about what she is looking for, and why it is important to gauge their impact on overall happiness, as well as health.