Your Social Network Can Make You Skinny! (Wellsphere Blog)

Your Social Network Can Make You Skinny! (Wellsphere Blog): "Your Social Network Can Make You Skinny! Harvard researchers prove that being part of a social network of people getting in shape can help you lose weight! San Francisco, Calif., August 16, 2007 — A groundbreaking study released by the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that weight loss can spread from person to person through social networks of friends and families. The study showed the same effect for weight gain and weight loss, finding that “the relevance of social influence also suggests that it may be possible to harness this same force to slow the spread of obesity. “Network phenomena might be exploited to spread positive health behaviors… People are connected, and so their health is connected.” This mirrors the model underlying Wellsphere (www.wellsphere.com ), an online community recently launched by Stanford graduates that is specifically designed for people to help each other eat better, lose weight get fit and unwind"