Social relationships as determinants of dietary habits and intake among office-based workers: A social network analysis in southern Sri Lanka

Office-based workers are sedentary and have a greater risk and prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCD). Social relationships and influences are associated with dietary behaviour and intake and can be used to change them. The Current study was conducted to assess social relationships and their associations with selected dietary behaviours and intake among office workers in a Sri Lankan setting. Office-based workers from five offices representing an entire district in southern Sri Lanka were selected as the study sample. Socio-demographic and dietary behavioural data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire. The 24-hour dietary recall was used to assess dietary intake. Relational questions with an inductive list of office workers were used to capture social relationships. Social Network Visualizer (SocNetV) software (version 3.1) created a network graph and calculated network measures. Nonparametric tests were used to assess statistical significance. This study included 139 participants (response rate, 85.3%). Social relations were not strong among office workers (in terms of density and centrality measures), and direct contact (85.6%) and telephone conversations (84.2%) were common methods of contact during and beyond office hours, respectively. Meal skipping (39.6%) and group eating (64.7%) were common. Only 5% of the workers had a healthy dietary intake. Having a degree or higher education qualification was associated with higher in-degree centrality (p = 0.02), and healthy eating was associated with higher out-degree centrality (p = 0.02). None of the other dietary variables tested showed an association with centrality measures. Office workers have weak social relationships. Unhealthy dietary behaviours are common, and dietary intake is suboptimal. Higher in-degree and out-degree centrality were associated with tertiary education and healthy eating. We recommend further studies on social relationships and their associations with dietary intake and behaviours in broader communities, focusing on personal and informal social relationships.