| Today I have some news on a Shocking Social | | | | Weight loss treatment influences untreated spouses |
| Support for Weight Loss Study that will help your | | | | and the home environment: evidence of a ripple |
| husband or wife lose weight, even if you're the one | | | | effect |
| doing all the work! | | | | The doctors wanted to see if a weight loss program |
| I like being right. And one of the tips I give over and | | | | delivered to one spouse could be "taken home" and |
| over and over again that always gets supported by | | | | have beneficial effects for the untreated spouse as |
| research is the need to have social support when | | | | well. |
| you're trying to lose weight. But today, I have a | | | | Three hundred and fifty seven diabetic participants |
| study that flips the results of social support, proving | | | | and spouses were treated for 1 year. |
| that it is even MORE powerful than I previously | | | | Subjects were divided into two groups, with one |
| thought. | | | | group receiving usual diabetes care while the other |
| Researchers from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Ohio, | | | | group received intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) |
| Arkansas, and Pennsylvania teamed up to study the | | | | help. |
| effects of an intense weight loss program on not | | | | The spouses of the ILI group lost 4.9 pounds over |
| only hundreds of diabetic subjects, but also on their | | | | the 1 year study, even though they had no contact |
| spouses who were not officially enrolled in the | | | | with the researchers. The spouses of participants |
| research trial. | | | | receiving normal care lost only 0.51 pounds over the |
| Reference: | | | | year. |
| International Journal of Obesity (2008) 32, 1678-1684. | | | | |