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Body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in African American church-based networks: A social network analysis

A growing body of research suggests that obesity can be understood as a complex and biobehavioral condition influenced by social relationships ─social networks. Social network analysis allows us to examine how an individual’s network characteristics (e.g., popularity) are associated with obesity and...

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Autores principales: Nam, Soohyun, Jung, Sunyoung, Vlahov, David, Latkin, Carl, Kershaw, Trace, Whittemore, Robin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10010537/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36913354
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281145
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author Nam, Soohyun
Jung, Sunyoung
Vlahov, David
Latkin, Carl
Kershaw, Trace
Whittemore, Robin
author_facet Nam, Soohyun
Jung, Sunyoung
Vlahov, David
Latkin, Carl
Kershaw, Trace
Whittemore, Robin
author_sort Nam, Soohyun
collection PubMed
description A growing body of research suggests that obesity can be understood as a complex and biobehavioral condition influenced by social relationships ─social networks. Social network analysis allows us to examine how an individual’s network characteristics (e.g., popularity) are associated with obesity and obesity-related behaviors. The objectives of the study were to (a) examine whether network members in African American churches are similar in body mass index (BMI) and obesity-related behaviors (physical activity, eating, alcohol consumption) and (b) examine whether an individual’s network characteristics, such as popularity (i.e., receiving nominations from peers) and expansiveness (i.e., sending nominations to peers) are associated with BMI and obesity-related behaviors. We used a cross-sectional study design and conducted social network analysis using Exponential random graph models with three African American church-based social networks (network A, B, and C, n = 281). There were no significant network members’ similarities on BMI in the three church-based networks. One out of three networks showed similarities in fruit and vegetable consumption (network B), fast food consumption (network C), physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and alcohol consumption (network A). African Americans with a high BMI were more popular, as were individuals with greater fat intake and alcohol consumption. Our findings support the perspective that we need to improve obesity-related behaviors by targeting influential individuals and existing ties and to develop obesity interventions using social networks. The degree to which our findings varied across churches also suggests that the relationship among an individual’s obesity-related behaviors and network characteristics should be understood in the unique social context.
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spelling pubmed-100105372023-03-14 Body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in African American church-based networks: A social network analysis Nam, Soohyun Jung, Sunyoung Vlahov, David Latkin, Carl Kershaw, Trace Whittemore, Robin PLoS One Research Article A growing body of research suggests that obesity can be understood as a complex and biobehavioral condition influenced by social relationships ─social networks. Social network analysis allows us to examine how an individual’s network characteristics (e.g., popularity) are associated with obesity and obesity-related behaviors. The objectives of the study were to (a) examine whether network members in African American churches are similar in body mass index (BMI) and obesity-related behaviors (physical activity, eating, alcohol consumption) and (b) examine whether an individual’s network characteristics, such as popularity (i.e., receiving nominations from peers) and expansiveness (i.e., sending nominations to peers) are associated with BMI and obesity-related behaviors. We used a cross-sectional study design and conducted social network analysis using Exponential random graph models with three African American church-based social networks (network A, B, and C, n = 281). There were no significant network members’ similarities on BMI in the three church-based networks. One out of three networks showed similarities in fruit and vegetable consumption (network B), fast food consumption (network C), physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and alcohol consumption (network A). African Americans with a high BMI were more popular, as were individuals with greater fat intake and alcohol consumption. Our findings support the perspective that we need to improve obesity-related behaviors by targeting influential individuals and existing ties and to develop obesity interventions using social networks. The degree to which our findings varied across churches also suggests that the relationship among an individual’s obesity-related behaviors and network characteristics should be understood in the unique social context. Public Library of Science 2023-03-13 /pmc/articles/PMC10010537/ /pubmed/36913354 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281145 Text en © 2023 Nam et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Nam, Soohyun
Jung, Sunyoung
Vlahov, David
Latkin, Carl
Kershaw, Trace
Whittemore, Robin
Body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in African American church-based networks: A social network analysis
title Body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in African American church-based networks: A social network analysis
title_full Body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in African American church-based networks: A social network analysis
title_fullStr Body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in African American church-based networks: A social network analysis
title_full_unstemmed Body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in African American church-based networks: A social network analysis
title_short Body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in African American church-based networks: A social network analysis
title_sort body mass index and obesity-related behaviors in african american church-based networks: a social network analysis
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10010537/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36913354
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281145
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