IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i23p12785-d694789.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Associations between State-Level Obesity Rates, Engagement with Food Brands on Social Media, and Hashtag Usage

Author

Listed:
  • Yuanqi Gu

    (Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA)

  • Jaime Coffino

    (Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA)

  • Rebecca Boswell

    (Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA)

  • Zora Hall

    (Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA)

  • Marie A. Bragg

    (Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
    School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA)

Abstract

Food advertisement exposure is associated with increased caloric intake, but little is known about food/beverage placements in the digital media environment. We aimed to examine the correlation between the number of people who follow food and beverage brand social media accounts (i.e., user engagement) and state-level obesity rates; quantify social media followers’ use of “healthy” vs. “unhealthy” hashtags; and analyze the relationship between user engagement and hashtag usage. We identified the 26 fast-food and beverage brands with the highest advertising expenditures and used Demographics Pro to determine the characteristics of social media users amongst the 26 brands. A series of regression analyses were conducted that related the mean percentage of brand followers and state-level obesity rates. We then identified 733 hashtags on Instagram and 703 hashtags on Twitter, coding them as “healthy”, “unhealthy”, “neutral”, or “unrelated to health”. Intercoder reliability was established using ReCal2, which indicated a 90% agreement between coders. Finally, we conducted ANCOVA to examine the relationship between the mean percentage of brand followers and their hashtag usage. There was a significant, positive correlation between the state-level obesity rate and the mean percentage of followers of sugary drink or fast-food brands on Instagram and Twitter, but such a correlation between obesity and low-calorie drink brand followers was only found on Twitter. Our findings illustrate the relationship between the social media food environment and obesity rates in the United States. Given the high rates of engagement with food brands on social media, policies should limit digital advertisements featuring fast-food, sugary drink, and low-calorie drink brands.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuanqi Gu & Jaime Coffino & Rebecca Boswell & Zora Hall & Marie A. Bragg, 2021. "Associations between State-Level Obesity Rates, Engagement with Food Brands on Social Media, and Hashtag Usage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12785-:d:694789
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12785/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12785/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pasquale E. Rummo & Omni Cassidy & Ingrid Wells & Jaime A. Coffino & Marie A. Bragg, 2020. "Examining the Relationship between Youth-Targeted Food Marketing Expenditures and the Demographics of Social Media Followers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Luc F. Van Gaal & Ilse L. Mertens & Christophe E. De Block, 2006. "Mechanisms linking obesity with cardiovascular disease," Nature, Nature, vol. 444(7121), pages 875-880, December.
    3. Hudson, Simon & Huang, Li & Roth, Martin S. & Madden, Thomas J., 2016. "The influence of social media interactions on consumer–brand relationships: A three-country study of brand perceptions and marketing behaviors," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 27-41.
    4. Lakon, C.M. & Hipp, J.R. & Wang, C. & Butts, C.T. & Jose, R., 2015. "Simulating dynamic network models and adolescent smoking: The impact of varying peer influence and peer selection," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(12), pages 2438-2448.
    5. Davis, B. & Carpenter, C., 2009. "Proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools and adolescent obesity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(3), pages 505-510.
    6. Gary Sacks & Evelyn Suk Yi Looi, 2020. "The Advertising Policies of Major Social Media Platforms Overlook the Imperative to Restrict the Exposure of Children and Adolescents to the Promotion of Unhealthy Foods and Beverages," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-10, June.
    7. Casagrande, S.S. & Gittelsohn, J. & Zonderman, A.B. & Evans, M.K. & Gary-Webb, T.L., 2011. "Association of walkability with obesity in Baltimore City, Maryland," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(SUPPL. 1), pages 318-324.
    8. Steven E. Kahn & Rebecca L. Hull & Kristina M. Utzschneider, 2006. "Mechanisms linking obesity to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes," Nature, Nature, vol. 444(7121), pages 840-846, December.
    9. Freeman, B. & Kelly, B. & Baur, L. & Chapman, K. & Chapman, S. & Gill, T. & King, L., 2014. "Digital junk: Food and beverage marketing on facebook," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(12), pages 56-64.
    10. Drewnowski, A. & Aggarwal, A. & Hurvitz, P.M. & Monsivais, P. & Moudon, A.V., 2012. "Obesity and supermarket access: Proximity or price?," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(8), pages 74-80.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Najlaa M. Aljefree & Ghada Talat Alhothali, 2022. "Exposure to Food Marketing via Social Media and Obesity among University Students in Saudi Arabia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Nicolas Todd & Mikko Myrskylä, 2022. "Projection of US adult obesity trends based on individual BMI trajectories," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-034, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Juliana de Paula Matos & Michele Bittencourt Rodrigues & Camila Kümmel Duarte & Paula Martins Horta, 2023. "A Scoping Review of Observational Studies on Food and Beverage Advertising on Social Media: A Public Health Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-22, February.
    4. Adriana Dornelles, 2019. "Impact of multiple food environments on body mass index," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-14, August.
    5. Nicolas Todd & Mikko Myrskylä, 2024. "Projection of US adult obesity trends based on individual BMI trajectories," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 51(13), pages 425-458.
    6. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Olivieri, Elisabetta & Triviza, Eleftheria, 2024. "Eating habits, food consumption, and health: The role of early life experiences," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. Hidenori Shimizu & Junki Miyamoto & Keiko Hisa & Ryuji Ohue-Kitano & Hiromi Takada & Mayu Yamano & Akari Nishida & Daiki Sasahara & Yuki Masujima & Keita Watanabe & Shota Nishikawa & Sakura Takahashi , 2025. "Sucrose-preferring gut microbes prevent host obesity by producing exopolysaccharides," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    8. Dong Hoo Kim & Doori Song, 2019. "Can brand experience shorten consumers’ psychological distance toward the brand? The effect of brand experience on consumers’ construal level," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(3), pages 255-267, May.
    9. Rose, Chelsea M. & Gupta, Shilpi & Buszkiewicz, James & Ko, Linda K. & Mou, Jin & Cook, Andrea & Moudon, Anne Vernez & Aggarwal, Anju & Drewnowski, Adam, 2020. "Small increments in diet cost can improve compliance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    10. Zhang, Chu-Bing & Zhang, Zhuo-Ping & Chang, Ying & Li, Tian-Ge & Hou, Ru-Jing, 2022. "Effect of WeChat interaction on brand evaluation: A moderated mediation model of para-social interaction and affiliative tendency," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Laura Seliske & William Pickett & Rebecca Bates & Ian Janssen, 2012. "Field Validation of Food Service Listings: A Comparison of Commercial and Online Geographic Information System Databases," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-7, July.
    12. Eunkyung Lee & Vanessa Kady & Eric Han & Kayla Montan & Marjona Normuminova & Michael J. Rovito, 2022. "Healthy Eating and Mortality among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-24, June.
    13. Schwartz, Gabriel L. & Chiang, Amy Y. & Wang, Guangyi & Kim, Min Hee & White, Justin S. & Hamad, Rita, 2023. "Testing mediating pathways between school segregation and health: Evidence on peer prejudice and health behaviors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    14. Yerbolat Saruarov & Gulnaz Nuskabayeva & Mehmet Ziya Gencer & Karlygash Sadykova & Mira Zhunissova & Ugilzhan Tatykayeva & Elmira Iskandirova & Gulmira Sarsenova & Aigul Durmanova & Abduzhappar Gaipov, 2023. "Associations of Clusters of Cardiovascular Risk Factors with Insulin Resistance and Β-Cell Functioning in a Working-Age Diabetic-Free Population in Kazakhstan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-11, February.
    15. Asirvatham, Jebaraj & Thomsen, Michael R. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. & Goudie, Anthony, 2019. "Do fast food restaurants surrounding schools affect childhood obesity?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 124-133.
    16. Abrahamsson, Sara & Bütikofer, Aline & Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2023. "Swallow This: Childhood and Adolescent Exposure to Fast Food Restaurants, BMI, and Cognitive Ability," CEPR Discussion Papers 18213, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Jacqueline Ahrens & Fiona Brennan & Sarah Eaglesham & Audrey Buelo & Yvonne Laird & Jillian Manner & Emily Newman & Helen Sharpe, 2022. "A Longitudinal and Comparative Content Analysis of Instagram Fitness Posts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-13, June.
    18. Mingzhu Zhou & Na Zhang & Yu Zhang & Xinyu Yan & Muxia Li & Wen Guo & Xiaohui Guo & Hairong He & Kaiwei Guo & Guansheng Ma, 2021. "Effect of Mobile-Based Lifestyle Intervention on Weight Loss among the Overweight and Obese Elderly Population in China: A Randomized Controlled Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-13, August.
    19. Sudhirsen Kowlessur & Zhibin Hu & Jaysing Heecharan & Jianming Wang & Juncheng Dai & Jaakko O. Tuomilehto & Stefan Söderberg & Paul Zimmet & Noël C. Barengo, 2018. "Predictors of Hypertension in Mauritians with Normotension and Prehypertension at Baseline: A Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-12, July.
    20. Dolton, Peter J. & Tafesse, Wiktoria, 2022. "Childhood obesity, is fast food exposure a factor?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    obesity; social media;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12785-:d:694789. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.