Adherence
Targeting well-connected individuals (highly connected nodes in social networks) who are at the edge of a BMI cluster for weight management interventions is significantly more effective at halting the spread of obesity than targeting obese individuals in the center of clusters.
If you are trying to lose weight or help others do so, focus on people who have many social connections and are on the 'edge' of a group (connected to both healthy and overweight people). Encouraging these 'influencers' to maintain a healthy weight can stabilize their social circle's weight distribution more effectively than trying to convince everyone in a group of overweight friends to change at once.
Fortunately, our simulations also show that interventions targeting well-connected and/or normal weight individuals at the edges of a cluster may quickly halt the spread of obesity.
Why this rating
Evidence is derived from computational simulations and network models, not randomized controlled trials.
Source
Exploiting Social Networks to Mitigate the Obesity Epidemic
David B. Bahr et al. · Obesity · 2009
DOI 10.1038/oby.2008.615
More from this paper
- Obesity spreads through social networks via clustering, where individuals' BMIs converge toward the majority BMI of their social neighbors, creating self-sustaining clusters of weight status.Moderate
- Pinning the weight of a small, random fraction (≤1%) of the population to a normal BMI, combined with increased social volatility, can reverse obesity trends and convert the majority of the population to a healthier weight.Limited
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- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
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