The Influence of U.S. Chain Restaurant Food Consumption and Obesity in China and South Korea: An Ecological Perspective of Food Consumption, Self-Efficacy in Weight Management, Willingness to Communicate About Weight/Diet, and Depression

ABSTRACT

This study examined the impact of U.S. chain restaurant food consumption in China and South Korea from an ecological perspective. Specifically, it explored the relationships among several environmental and individual variables that have been found to affect obesity/weight management in previous research, including the prevalence/popularity of U.S. chain restaurants in these countries, frequency of U.S. chain restaurant food consumption, self-efficacy in weight management, willingness to communicate about weight/diet, self-perceptions of weight/obesity stigma, body mass index (BMI), and depression. The results indicated that willingness to communicate about weight/diet predicted increased self-efficacy in weight management. Higher BMI scores were found to predict increased weight/obesity stigma, and increased frequency of U.S. restaurant food consumption, weight/obesity stigma, and reduced self-efficacy in weight management were found to predict increased levels of depression. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed, along with limitations and directions for future research.