title: Obesity in social media: a mixed methods analysis.
abstract: The escalating obesity rate in the USA has made obesity prevention a top public health priority. Recent interventions have tapped into the social media (SM) landscape. To leverage SM in obesity prevention, we must understand user-generated discourse surrounding the topic. This study was conducted to describe SM interactions about weight through a mixed methods analysis. Data were collected across 60 days through SM monitoring services, yielding 2.2 million posts. Data were cleaned and coded through Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, yielding popular themes and the most retweeted content. Qualitative analyses of selected posts add insight into the nature of the public dialogue and motivations for participation. Twitter represented the most common channel. Twitter and Facebook were dominated by derogatory and misogynist sentiment, pointing to weight stigmatization, whereas blogs and forums contained more nuanced comments. Other themes included humor, education, and positive sentiment countering weight-based stereotypes. This study documented weight-related attitudes and perceptions. This knowledge will inform public health/obesity prevention practice.
authors.affiliation: Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Dr. 3E614, Rockville, MD 20892 USA.
authors.forename: Wen-Ying Sylvia
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Dr., Rockville, MD 20892 USA.
authors.forename: Abby
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prestin
authors.affiliation: Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University, 9609 Medical Center Dr. 3E614, Rockville, MD 20892 USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kunath
keywords: Cyber aggression; Health communication; Mixed methods; Obesity; Online social support; Social media; Weight stigma