Worksite Social Connections and Food Choice: Identifying Opportunities for Obesity Prevention

 描述(申请人提供)：肥胖症仍然是美国主要的可预防的发病率和死亡率原因之一，肥胖症的增加在很大程度上可归因于食物选择。众所周知，食物的选择(质量、数量)受到社会和自然环境的影响。最近的研究表明，肥胖可能是通过社交网络“传播”的。可以设计降低肥胖风险的战略，以利用社会关系和肥胖之间的关系，但需要进一步调查社会和物理环境与食物选择之间的相互作用，以帮助确定可用于改善健康的可能机制。工作场所是研究社会关系和食物选择之间关系的理想场所。有工作的人大约有一半醒着的时间是在工作场所度过的，几乎每个人都在工作日吃饭。工作场所就餐场所(如自助餐厅)提供了一个独特的机会，可以研究利用已建立的社会关系和食品购买环境之间的相互作用来预防肥胖的战略。自2010年以来，我们在马萨诸塞州总医院(MGH)的食品服务系统内进行了一系列干预措施，并研究了这些干预措施对购买健康食品的影响。在MGH出售的所有食品都被分配了交通灯标签，这些标签由美国农业部饮食指南告知，并具有明确传达的信息，以指示食品选择的健康程度。我们发现，向员工提供社会规范反馈(同龄人比较)会增加健康食品的选择。在初步分析中，我们还发现了员工中健康/不健康食品购买行为的关联，这些员工的社会关系是从自助餐厅和行政数据中推断出来的。在目前的提案中，我们使用MGH自助餐厅系统来测试社会联系与食物选择之间的关系是否因员工特征和特定食物环境而异(目标1)。利用先前一项测试社会规范反馈对健康食品选择的影响的随机试验的数据，我们将确定干预对员工食品选择的积极影响是否被他们的社会关系放大并通过社会关系传递给他们的同事(目标2)。我们在这个真实世界的食物选择“实验室”中建立了客观的数据收集系统，使我们能够对工作场所的社会网络以及这些因素与食物环境的相互作用进行新颖的调查。这项研究的结果将使我们 开发和测试能够利用社会联系和食物环境来改善食物选择和降低肥胖风险的新干预措施。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Obesity continues to be among the leading preventable causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States and much of the rise in obesity is attributable to food choice. It is well-established that food choices (quality, quantity are affected by social and physical environments. Recent research has suggested that obesity might be "transmitted" through social networks. Strategies to reduce obesity risk could be designed to take advantage of the relationship between social connections and obesity, but further investigation of the interactions between social and physical environments and food choice is needed to help identify possible mechanisms that could be leveraged to improve health. The workplace is an ideal setting to study the relationship between social connections and food choice. Employed individuals spend roughly half their waking hours in the workplace and nearly everyone eats during the workday. Workplace eating establishments (e.g. cafeterias) provide a unique opportunity to study obesity prevention strategies that capitalize on the interactions of established social connections and the food purchasing environment. Since 2010, we have undertaken a series of interventions within the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) food services system and studied their impact on purchases of healthy food items. All food items sold at MGH have been assigned traffic light labels informed by USDA dietary guidelines with clearly communicated messaging to indicate the healthfulness of food choices. We have found that providing employees with social norms feedback (peer comparisons) increases healthy food choices. In preliminary analyses, we have also identified associations in healthy/unhealthy food purchasing behaviors among employees whose social connections have been inferred from cafeteria and administrative data. In the current proposal, we use the MGH cafeteria system to test whether the relationship between social connectedness and food choice varies by employee characteristics and specific food environments (Aim 1). Using data from a prior randomized trial testing the influence of social norms feedback on healthy food choices, we will determine whether the positive effects of the intervention on employees' food choices are amplified by their social connections and transmitted through social connections to their co-workers (Aim 2). Our established, objective data collection system in this real-world food choice "laboratory" allows us to conduct novel investigations of worksite social networks and the interaction of these factors with the food environment. Results from this research will position us to develop and test new interventions that can leverage social connectedness and the food environment to improve food choices and reduce obesity risk.