BOSTON, April 25 (UPI) -- Data on social network users' interests, active versus sedentary, can help predict obesity rates in U.S. cities and towns, researchers say.
Study leader Rumi Chunara and John Brownstein of Boston Children's Hospital's Informatics Program said the amount of data available on social networks like Facebook makes it possible to carry out research efficiently in cohorts of a size that has to date been impractical.