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“Baby Wants Tacos”: Analysis of Health-Related Facebook Posts from Young Pregnant Women

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Abstract

Objectives Pregnant young women gain more weight than recommended by the National Academy of Medicine, increasing the likelihood of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. The purpose of this study is to use online social media to understand beliefs and practices surrounding weight gain, diet and exercise during pregnancy among young women. Methods Facebook posts were mined from young women ages 16 to 24 during pregnancy who were consented from two Midwest primary care clinics serving low-income communities. Natural language processing was used to identify posts related to weight gain, exercise and diet by keyword searching. Two investigators iteratively coded the mined posts and identified major themes around health behaviors. Outcome measures included the frequency of posts and major themes regarding health behaviors during pregnancy. Results Participants (n = 43) had a mean age of 21 (SD 2.3), and the largest subgroups identified as black (49%; 26% white, 16% Hispanic, 9% other) and having graduated from high school (49%; 24% completed some high school and 24% completed at least some post-secondary education). Among the 2899 pregnancy posts analyzed, 311 were related to weight. Major themes included eating behaviors and cravings (58% of identified posts), body image (24%), the influence of family, partners and friends (14%), and the desire to exercise (4%). Conclusions for practice Facebook posts revealed that young women often frame their thoughts and feelings regarding weight gain in pregnancy in the context of food cravings and body image and that friends and family are important influencers to these behaviors.

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Abbreviations

LMP:

Last menstrual period

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Katie Grode for her assistance in preparing this manuscript for publication. We would also like to acknowledge Daniel Oram for his contributions to data organization and processing.

Funding

The research is supported by National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (1K23HD083527-01A1) Speaking Their Language: Using Social Media and Texting to Create an Adolescent-Centered Approach to Healthy Weight Gain During Pregnancy, PI: Tammy Chang, MD MPH MS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Elizabeth Marshall, Margaret Abigail Moon, Lauren P. Nichols & Tammy Chang

  2. University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Anicia Mirchandani

  3. School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    D. Grace Smith

  4. School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Xinyan Zhao & V. G. Vinod Vydiswaran

  5. Department of Learning Health Sciences, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    V. G. Vinod Vydiswaran

  6. Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Tammy Chang

  7. Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Road, Building 14-Room G107, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2800, USA

    Tammy Chang

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  1. Elizabeth Marshall
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  2. Margaret Abigail Moon
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  3. Anicia Mirchandani
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  4. D. Grace Smith
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  7. V. G. Vinod Vydiswaran
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Correspondence to Tammy Chang.

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Appendix A

Appendix A

Exercise

Diet

Body image/weight gain

Pregnancy

Work out

Vegetable

Weight, weight gain

Preg

Sweat

Pop, soda

Fat, chubby

Pregna

Run

Fruit

Pregnant

Knocked up

walk

Craving

Bump, belly

Bun (in the oven)

Gym

Hungry

Gain, pounds, lb, scale

Baby

Bike

Starving

Heavy, big, huge

With child

Move

Full

Wobble

With baby

Bicycle

Quarter pounder

Tiny, small

Expecting

Perspiration

McDonalds

Overweight, obese

 

Be active

Greasy

Large, big, wide

 

Active

Chips

Butt, buttocks, stomach

 

Yoga

Eat

Shape, figure, body

 

Exercise

Snack

Boobs, breast, chest

 

Stairs

Energy

Bulge

 

Play

Starved

Fatness, adipose

 

Race

Nosh

Belittled

 

Squat

Starvation

Abdomen, abs

 

Work

Protein

Fleshy

 

Treadmill

Dairy

Fatten, fatty

 

Elliptical

Carbs

Torso, tummy

 

Dumb bell

Water

Stretch marks, stretch

 

Bench press

Yogurt

Booty, ass

 

Swim

Cheese

Flat

 

Jog

Meat

Flabby

 
 

Fish

Hippo, cow, pig

 
 

Burger

Ugly

 
 

Taco

Beautiful, pretty, cute

 
 

Steam

Skinny, fit

 
 

Cook

Feet

 
 

Fry

Swollen, swell, swoll

 
 

Bake

Glow

 
 

Cook

Healthy, unhealthy

 
 

Bread

Chunk, chunky

 
  

Tit, tits

 

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Marshall, E., Moon, M.A., Mirchandani, A. et al. “Baby Wants Tacos”: Analysis of Health-Related Facebook Posts from Young Pregnant Women. Matern Child Health J 23, 1400–1413 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02776-7

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