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Approaches to the prevention and management of childhood obesity: the role of social networks and the use of social media and related electronic technologies: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association.

Despite the significant attention and resources committed to the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity, the epidemic shows no sign of abating.1 Although all children are at risk for obesity, there are marked disparities by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, neighborhood, and access to health care.2 Any successful approach to addressing the overall burden of obesity must not rely solely on the healthcare system,3 but must include the implementation of policies that take into account the physical and social environment to change the eating and activity behaviors of children and their families. Examples of such policy efforts include the attempts to ban food marketing to children and to increase access to safe and appealing venues for exercise.4,5 Despite these important policy directions, efforts to sustain changes in behavior remain challenging, and the evidence about which interventions are most effective is still incomplete.6

Social networks are groupings of interconnected 2-way relationships. Modern-day social networks typically rely on social media for communication. More specifically, the term social media refers to the use of Web-based and mobile technologies that are commonly used for interaction and communication within networks. Research underscores strong associations between participation in social networks and preventive health behavior.7–11 Recently, it was observed that obesity may spread across social networks, suggesting that these networks could be leveraged for prevention or treatment.12,13 The main purpose of this statement is to evaluate the role of social networks and social media in relation to childhood obesity. We build on a recent statement by the American Heart Association directed at the management of adult weight management strategies in the ambulatory setting that focused on the use of Internet-based and other related technologies.14 In this statement, we provide an overview of social networks and …