School of Nursing, Yale University, Orange, Connecticut, United States of America.
College of Nursing, Pusan National University, Pusan, Republic of Korea.
PLoS One. 2023 Mar 13;18(3):e0281145. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281145. eCollection 2023.
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.
越来越多的研究表明，肥胖可以被理解为一种复杂的生物行为状况，受到社会关系——社交网络的影响。社交网络分析使我们能够研究个体网络特征（如受欢迎程度）如何与肥胖和与肥胖相关的行为相关。该研究的目的是：(a) 检验非裔美国人教堂中的网络成员在体重指数 (BMI) 和与肥胖相关的行为（身体活动、饮食、饮酒）方面是否相似；(b) 检验个体的网络特征，如受欢迎程度（即获得同伴提名）和扩展性（即提名给同伴）是否与 BMI 和与肥胖相关的行为相关。我们使用了横断面研究设计，并使用具有三个基于非洲裔美国人教堂的社交网络（网络 A、B 和 C，n = 281）的指数随机图模型进行社交网络分析。在这三个基于教堂的网络中，网络成员在 BMI 方面没有显著的相似性。三个网络中有一个在水果和蔬菜消费（网络 B）、快餐消费（网络 C）、身体活动、久坐行为和饮酒方面存在相似性（网络 A）。BMI 较高的非裔美国人更受欢迎，脂肪摄入量和饮酒量较大的个体也更受欢迎。我们的研究结果支持这样一种观点，即我们需要通过针对有影响力的个人和现有关系来改善与肥胖相关的行为，并利用社交网络来开发肥胖干预措施。我们的研究结果在各个教堂之间存在差异，这表明个体的肥胖相关行为和网络特征之间的关系应该在独特的社会背景下加以理解。
