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Nutrition and fitness information
websites and blogs number in the hundreds of thousands. Sorting through the thousands of pages can be confusing and intimidating. It may help to first understand the type of website you’re looking at, as follows:
.gov stands for a government agency
.edu identifies an educational institution
.org is usually a professional organization (e.g., scientific or research societies, advocacy groups)
.com identifies commercial websites (e.g., businesses, pharmaceutical companies, sometimes hospitals)
Trustworthy websites should have easily available contact information. The home page should list an email address, phone number or mailing address where the authors can be reached. Also, the authors of the information should be listed and you should look to see when the information was written. A very reliable source of information can be found at nutrition.gov, which gives online access to governmental information on food and human nutrition and is a service of the National Agricultural Library, USDA.
Fitness information online ranges from everything from exercise information and fitness tips to weight loss advice. You’ll find websites on running, road biking, mountain biking, swimming, hiking, skiing, triathlons and much more.
Other web information includes the sale of exercise videos and equipment. When making any purchases online, use common sense and caution. Make sure the website is secure and never give out your Social Security number without knowing the site is secure. The way to know if it’s secure site, in Internet Explorer, you will see a lock icon in the Security Status bar. The Security Status bar is located on the right side of the Address bar. The certificate that is used to encrypt the connection also contains information about the identity of the website owner or organization. You can click the lock to view the identity of the website. If you have any doubts about what you’re reading, or if an offer seems “too good to be true,” it likely is.
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