Instagram messages and weight/health habits in young African American women
Official title: How Health and Weight Management Social Media Messages Targeting African American Women Impact Health Behaviors
Funded at North Carolina Agri & Tech St Univ · NIH-11172619 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how Instagram images and messages like 'fitspiration', 'thinspiration', and body-positivity influence eating and exercise habits among Generation Z African American women.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | North Carolina Agri & Tech St Univ NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Greensboro, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2022 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $137,136 |
| NIH project number | 5R16GM145594-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11172619 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are Generation Z African American women who use Instagram and are willing to complete surveys and participate in interviews about their diet, exercise, and social media experiences.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not Generation Z, not African American women, or who do not use social media are unlikely to be eligible or to receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If you join, you'll be asked about your eating and exercise habits and how social media affects you through surveys and interviews. The team will collect qualitative interviews and online behavior information while developing a new questionnaire that measures these social media influences. They will combine (triangulate) the interview and survey data to see how different Instagram messages relate to current and planned diet and fitness activities. The goal is to identify which types of messages support healthier habits and which may harm body image or lead to unhealthy behaviors.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could inform better social media messages and tools that help young African American women make healthier eating and exercise choices.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have shown mixed effects of fitspiration and body-positivity content on behavior and body image, so this mixed-methods approach and the new psychometric tool are partly novel.
Where this research is happening
-
North Carolina Agri & Tech St Univ
Greensboro, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Smith, Kalynda Chivon — North Carolina Agri & Tech St Univ
- Study coordinator: Smith, Kalynda Chivon
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.