Adherence
High social embeddedness within an online weight management community significantly increases the magnitude of weight loss, independent of the absolute number of friends or friends' average weight change.
If you are using an online weight loss program, actively build deep connections within the community rather than just collecting friends. The research shows that being 'embedded' in the core of the social network (having friends who are also friends with each other) is the strongest predictor of significant weight loss (up to 8.3% vs 4.1%). Engage with the community, post, and interact, as this social support drives adherence and success more than just the number of connections.
Remarkably, greater embeddedness in the network was the variable with the highest statistical significance in our model for weight loss. Average per cent weight loss at six months increased in a graded manner from 4.1% for non-networked members, to 5.2% for those with a few (two to nine) friends, to 6.8% for those connected to the giant component of the network, to 8.3% for those with high social embeddedness.
Why this rating
Large observational cohort (N=22,419) with rigorous statistical correction for selection bias (Heckman), but it is an observational study, not a randomized controlled trial.
Source
Social embeddedness in an online weight management programme is linked to greater weight loss
Julia Poncela-Casasnovas et al. · Journal of The Royal Society Interface · 2015
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