An Exploration of the Use of Social Media for Weight Loss

Being overweight or obese is the second most preventable cause of death behind tobacco use (Mokdad, Marks, Stroup, and Gerberding, 2004), and now obesity and being overweight has become one of America's top health crises. An estimated 155 million Americans are overweight or obese (Go et al., 2012). In the U.S., obesity rates have more than doubled from 15 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2010 (Christopher, Lang, and Rayburn, 2012). In adults over age 20 years, 66.3% are overweight or obese (Ogden et al, 2006). Obesity is defined as a person with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30. A BMI of 25 to 30 is considered overweight, while a BMI of 18 to 25 is normal (NIH, 1998).