Aim Recruiting young women to weight management research programs is difficult. The purpose of this study was to gain insights into the barriers and motivators that influence participation and to explore effective methods of recruitment from the perspective of young women with obesity living in both urban and regional areas. Methods Semi‐structured interviews were used to elicit information from focus groups. The interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed qualitatively. Eight focus groups, which included a total of 27 women, were conducted. Participants had a mean age of 29.1 (±5.1) years and a mean body mass index of 35.8 (±2.9) kg/m2. Results The barriers to participation were multifaceted and largely similar across urban and regional participants. Fear of judgement and uncertainty about the process were major psychosocial barriers. A lack of tailoring of program content was an important program‐related barrier. Physical barriers such as time commitment, cost and access were discussed extensively, particularly in urban groups. The provision of incentives and the use of positive language that focusses on the benefits of the intervention were viewed positively. Physical and virtual methods of recruitment were identified as potentially effective provided they were presented in media that this group is likely to use and can access in a private location. Conclusions The results of this study provide a greater understanding of the challenges faced by young women in relation to participation in weight management programs and some of the potential methods that could be utilised to facilitate participation.

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Overweight and obesity impact up to 40% of young women in Australia; however, young women are challenging to recruit to research and are rarely the focus of weight loss interventions. This study aimed to examine dietary patterns in young women (18–25 y; BMI > 25 kg/m2). An analysis of participants’ (mean age: 22.6 y; BMI: 32.2 kg/m2) 3-day food records found young women with overweight/obesity consumed a diet characterised by total energy intake of 9174 (2526) kJ/day, with the first meal at 9:12 am (range: 4:30 am–12:40 pm), the last at 10:43 pm (range: 2:40 pm–2:00 am), and an average eating window of 11.5 h. Young women had poor quality diets, which did not meet dietary recommendations for most core food groups, and high intake of refined carbohydrates. They also reported consuming at least one takeaway meal per day and >30% of total energy intake was from discretionary items. The findings showed that young women with overweight or obesity consume most of their energy intake in the afternoons and late into the evenings and have poor-quality diets with high-discretionary intake, each of which have been shown in previous work to be associated with increased weight and risk of metabolic comorbidities. While these findings require further examination in larger groups with both qualitative and longitudinal data collection to verify the impact of these eating patterns on weight maintenance, the eating behaviours identified here may present a suitable target for novel weight loss interventions in young women, who are an understudied population group in need of tailored weight management solutions.