شبکه های اجتماعی در سلامت The impact of Social Networking on Obesity: An Overview

Background:The definition of the WHO of overweight and obesity is that abnormal accumulation of fat in the body is a disorder that affects their health. In 2014, about 600 million people were obese and more than 1.9 billion were overweight. Obesity can cause many problems such as hypertension, High blood lipids and increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of social networks on behavioral changes of overweight individuals.Material and Methods:We searched peer reviewed journals in PubMed and Scopus from January2005 till November 2017 in English language. We assessed changes in weight, body mass index, physical activity, diet, and lifestyle based on social networks interventions, also we reported behavior change mechanisms used in the studies.Results:We found 195 articles, 45 of them were eligible and included in this review. Most studies (n=16) published in 2016. Totally 670302 participants (range 18 to 63) were enrolled in the studies. 23 articles reported significant improvement on weight loss and weight management but 21 studies did not report clear effect and one study reported negative effect. The behavior changes in physical activity and exercise were reported in 34 studies, diet (n=31), nutrition (n=15) and lifestyle (n=8). The behavioral change theories and mechanisms used in the studies were social network theory, control theory, active role theory, social learning theory, social cognitive theory, and social networks for activity promotion (SNAP) model. The common social networks were Facebook (n=32), Twitter (n=14). The duration of interventions were between one month to two years, but best effect reported in 6 months.Conclusion:Social media (network) interventions, especially Social Support and Encouragement content have successfully improved weight loss and promoted weight management healthy behavior change. Social networks are a communication tool that can use effectively to create healthy behavior if developed based on behavioral change mechanisms and motivational/ emotional content

کلیدواژه ها:

Social media ، Obesity ، Health behavior ، Review