E-community support for weight loss

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the advantages of e-community support for those who have weight control issues. A qualitative content analysis method was used to explore the benefits of e-communities on weight loss for females. The focus of this study was within two websites, 3FatChicks.com and Weight Watchers.com. A simple random sampling (SRS) of three days per week sampling technique was used. The women observed within the e-community, offer feedback through the use of Short Message Service, emoticons, and the conversations themselves. A content analysis of the communications revealed emerging themes that were grouped into three major categories: Communication/Knowledge, Physiological, and Socioemotional. The collected data indicates that an online weight loss support group can be beneficial for women, not only for weight loss but also the physiological and socio-emotional effects.