Online Communication About Genetics and Body Weight: Implications for Health Behavior and Internet-Based Education

Abstract

Social media, specifically online weight loss message board communities, may become an important conduit for information about genetics and body weight. This information has the capacity to influence individuals as it is naturally encountered online, or it could be strategically disseminated for public health purposes. However, little is known about how the public engages with information that they encounter related to genetic underpinnings of body weight, or how their interpretation of this information shapes health beliefs. The present study examined discussions about genetics and weight in message board communities devoted to discussion of weight loss. Fifty-four online discussions, comprising 505 individual posts from 3 weight-loss themed message boards, were coded using a closed-ended procedure. Individuals who discussed genetics and weight in online message board communities initiated these discussions mainly for personal reasons and primarily cited mass media–sourced information. Genetic causes of weight tended to be endorsed alongside behavioral causes. There was no association between cause endorsements and expressed frustration. These findings help elucidate the effects of naturally encountered information about genetics of weight. They may also have implications for the creation of online evidence-based tools to aid communication about genetic advances in ways that encourage positive dietary and physical activity behavior.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Marissa Niemeyer and ShaDonna Jackson for coding assistance. They also thank Celeste Condit, Colleen McBride, and Richard Street for helpful advice. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health.

Notes

*Number of times cited in parentheses if mentioned in more than one thread.

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