Adolescent relational behaviour and the obesity pandemic: A descriptive study applying social network analysis and machine learning techniques

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Main Authors: Marqués-Sánchez, Pilar, Martínez-Fernández, María Cristina, Benítez-Andrades, José Alberto, Quiroga-Sánchez, Enedina, García-Ordás, María Teresa, Arias-Ramos, Natalia
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Marqués-Sánchez, Pilar
Martínez-Fernández, María Cristina
Benítez-Andrades, José Alberto
Quiroga-Sánchez, Enedina
García-Ordás, María Teresa
Arias-Ramos, Natalia
author_facet Marqués-Sánchez, Pilar
Martínez-Fernández, María Cristina
Benítez-Andrades, José Alberto
Quiroga-Sánchez, Enedina
García-Ordás, María Teresa
Arias-Ramos, Natalia
contents Aim: To study the existence of subgroups by exploring the similarities between the attributes of the nodes of the groups, in relation to diet and gender and, to analyse the connectivity between groups based on aspects of similarities between them through SNA and artificial intelligence techniques. Methods: 235 students from 5 different educational centres participate in this study between March and December 2015. Data analysis carried out is divided into two blocks: social network analysis and unsupervised machine learning techniques. As for the social network analysis, the Girvan-Newman technique was applied to find the best number of cohesive groups within each of the friendship networks of the different classes analysed. Results: After applying Girvan-Newman in the three classes, the best division into clusters was respectively 2 for classroom A, 7 for classroom B and 6 for classroom C. There are significant differences between the groups and the gender and diet variables. After applying K-means using population diet as an input variable, a K-means clustering of 2 clusters for class A, 3 clusters for class B and 3 clusters for class C is obtained. Conclusion: Adolescents form subgroups within their classrooms. Subgroup cohesion is defined by the fact that nodes share similarities in aspects that influence obesity, they share attributes related to food quality and gender. The concept of homophily, related to SNA, justifies our results. Artificial intelligence techniques together with the application of the Girvan-Newman provide robustness to the structural analysis of similarities and cohesion between subgroups.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_03385
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Adolescent relational behaviour and the obesity pandemic: A descriptive study applying social network analysis and machine learning techniques
Marqués-Sánchez, Pilar
Martínez-Fernández, María Cristina
Benítez-Andrades, José Alberto
Quiroga-Sánchez, Enedina
García-Ordás, María Teresa
Arias-Ramos, Natalia
Social and Information Networks
Machine Learning
Aim: To study the existence of subgroups by exploring the similarities between the attributes of the nodes of the groups, in relation to diet and gender and, to analyse the connectivity between groups based on aspects of similarities between them through SNA and artificial intelligence techniques. Methods: 235 students from 5 different educational centres participate in this study between March and December 2015. Data analysis carried out is divided into two blocks: social network analysis and unsupervised machine learning techniques. As for the social network analysis, the Girvan-Newman technique was applied to find the best number of cohesive groups within each of the friendship networks of the different classes analysed. Results: After applying Girvan-Newman in the three classes, the best division into clusters was respectively 2 for classroom A, 7 for classroom B and 6 for classroom C. There are significant differences between the groups and the gender and diet variables. After applying K-means using population diet as an input variable, a K-means clustering of 2 clusters for class A, 3 clusters for class B and 3 clusters for class C is obtained. Conclusion: Adolescents form subgroups within their classrooms. Subgroup cohesion is defined by the fact that nodes share similarities in aspects that influence obesity, they share attributes related to food quality and gender. The concept of homophily, related to SNA, justifies our results. Artificial intelligence techniques together with the application of the Girvan-Newman provide robustness to the structural analysis of similarities and cohesion between subgroups.
title Adolescent relational behaviour and the obesity pandemic: A descriptive study applying social network analysis and machine learning techniques
topic Social and Information Networks
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.03385