Changes in weight-loss–related social norms over the past 20 years: a semantic network analysis and a topic modeling of news articles

Despite increasing concerns about unhealthy weight management behaviors (UWMBs), prior research has primarily examined short-term media influences and fragmented gender differences in weight-loss attitudes, overlooking the role of social norms in shaping behaviors through sociocultural changes. Addressing this gap, this study explored how social norms related to weight loss have evolved over time at three distinct time points. A total of 18,182 news articles were retrieved from BIG KINDS, Korea's news big data platform, using the search terms "weight loss," "weight control," or "dieting." These articles were refined and analyzed using keyword extraction, semantic network analysis, and latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling with NetMiner. Four major topics emerged: weight-loss demand driven by obesity stigma, social expectations for weight-loss–oriented consumption, increasing acceptance of easy weight-loss methods, and social media pressure for the ideal body shape. While social norms surrounding weight loss were found to shift across the sampled periods, this difference was particularly pronounced for discourse on easy methods including UWMBs, as well as social media pressure for the ideal body shape specifically associated with women. This study provides a novel perspective by examining changes in weight-loss norms through media discourse rather than individual behavior. These findings underscore the need for structural approaches—alongside individual-level efforts—to address weight-loss—related social norms, while also highlighting the need for further research to clarify whether this pattern is genuinely specific to women.