Social Mechanisms for Weight-related Behaviors among Emerging Adults

The purpose of this research was to qualitatively assess young people's perceptions about how friends' impact eating and physical activity (PA) behaviors.

Emerging adults (N=52; mean age=18.7±0.6 years; 50% female) attending a large 4-year college campus in the southwest were enrolled in focus groups (N=10). Following saturation, the research team met to establish consensus and co-create a codebook from which two researchers independently coded each focus group. Coders continually discussed themes to ensure consistency of coding.

Initially, youth reported that their friends' did not influence their eating/PA. The major social facilitators identified by students were encouragement, social cues, celebrations, shared experiences, pressure.

Several social facilitators impacted eating and PA. These factors should be considered when designing obesity interventions with emerging adults.