Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Feb;23(2):263-272.
doi: 10.1177/1357633X16630846. Epub 2016 Jul 9.

Do weight management interventions delivered by online social networks effectively improve body weight, body composition, and chronic disease risk factors? A systematic review

Erik A Willis  1 , Amanda N Szabo-Reed  1 , Lauren T Ptomey  1 , Felicia L Steger  1 , Jeffery J Honas  1 , Richard A Washburn  1 , Joseph E Donnelly  1
Affiliations

Do weight management interventions delivered by online social networks effectively improve body weight, body composition, and chronic disease risk factors? A systematic review

Erik A Willis et al. J Telemed Telecare. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

Introduction Currently, no systematic review/meta-analysis has examined studies that used online social networks (OSN) as a primary intervention platform. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of weight management interventions delivered through OSN. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched (January 1990-November 2015) for studies with data on the effect of OSNs on weight loss. Only primary source articles that utilized OSN as the main platform for delivery of weight management/healthy lifestyle interventions, were published in English language peer-reviewed journals, and reported outcome data on weight were eligible for inclusion in this systematic review. Five articles were included in this review. Results One-hundred percent of the studies ( n = 5) reported a reduction in baseline weight. Three of the five studies (60%) reported significant decreases in body weight when OSN was paired with health educator support. Only one study reported a clinical significant weight loss of ≥5%. Conclusion Using OSN for weight management is in its early stages of development and, while these few studies show promise, more research is needed to acquire information about optimizing these interventions to increase their efficacy.

Keywords: Social media; obesity; systematic review; weight loss.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Online Social Network Search Flow Diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, et al. Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011–2012. Jama. 2014;311(8):806–14. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Algazy J, Gipstein S, Riahi F, Tryon K. Why governments must lead the fight against obesity. Medicine. 2009;361(23):2252–60.
    1. Jensen MD, Ryan DH, Apovian CM, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and The Obesity Society. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2014;63(25_PA):2985–3023. - PubMed
    1. Wing R. In: Behavioral approaches to the treatment of obesity. 2. Bray GABC, editor. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc; 2004. pp. 147–67.
    1. Wadden TA, Butryn ML, Byrne KJ. Efficacy of lifestyle modification for long-term weight control. Obes Res. 2004;12(Suppl):151S–62S. - PubMed

Publication types