Leveraging social media to promote body positivity among Latino adolescents

The research will support the long-term career goal of testing whether the mental and physical health of youth, particularly those from communities with social and economic challenges, improves when social norms encourage widespread promotion of body positive messages. It will address the disproportionate impact of adolescent obesity on Latino youth. The project will leverage social media (Instagram) to positively influence adolescents’ views of those living in larger bodies, increase promotion of positive content, and discourage harmful actions due to weight. The research will address gaps in existing literature by studying male and female Latino youth with multiple exposures to messages. Specific aims include: (1) using qualitative methods (20 interviews) to understand Latino youth’s views on body positive messages to inform campaign development; (2) developing an Instagram body positivity campaign (20 messages) and pre-testing with 100 Latino adolescents; and (3) conducting a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) with 114 Latino adolescents engaging with a study campaign for 4 weeks, completing baseline and follow-up surveys to assess impact on weight-related attitudes and mental health.