The Association Between Peers Influence and Sweets Consumption Pattern in Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Overweight and obesity among adolescents tend to continue into adulthood and increase risks of cardiometabolic
morbidity. New focus research on peers and obesity has shown that obesity is significantly influenced by social
norms and peer groups among adolescents and adults. This study aims to explore the association between peers’
influence and sweets consumption patterns in adolescent girls. This was an analytic observational with a crosssectional design study. This study was conducted in Tangerang, in June 2021. The sampling technique used cluster
random sampling with a total sample of 122 adolescent girls aged 13-15 years. The data of peers influence
measured by The Diet Social Support Assessment (DSSA), data of sweets consumption pattern measured by Food
Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Data were analyzed by SPSS V.23. Percentage of subjects with strong peer
influence is 60.0%, majority of them (65.0%) had an often consumption of sweets compared to those who not
often (35.0%). There was significant association between peer influence and sweets consumption pattern (p-value
= 0.018, OR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.2 – 5.3). When the peer influence becomes more strong, the sweets consumption
pattern is more likely to increase too