Trial reportObesity (Silver Spring, Md.)2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Ripple Effect of a Nationally Available Weight Management Program on Untreated Spouses.
Trial report in Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Role of Household Social Support and Undermining in Dietary Change.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Trial
- Evaluating environmental and inhibitory control strategies to improve outcomes in a widely available weight loss program.Contemporary clinical trials · 2022Trial
- Emotional distress in neuro-ICU survivor-caregiver dyads: The recovering together randomized clinical trial.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2022Trial
- Artificial intelligence-assisted clinical decision support for childhood asthma management: A randomized clinical trial.PloS one · 2021Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of a theory-based weight-loss program for couples.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2020Trial
- How prescriptive support affects weight loss in weight-loss intervention participants and their untreated spouses.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2018Trial
- Patient Knowledge of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists for Obesity and Exploration of Potential Household-Level Effects in an Urban Health System.Obesity science & practice · 2026Article
- Partner Weight Loss and Diet Outcomes at 24 Months in a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Dyadic Versus Individual Weight Management Intervention.Obesity science & practice · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of a behavioral weight management intervention by race, ethnicity, income, and education: a meta-analysis.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- What works for men? Participant perspectives from a mixed-gender weight-management trial with incentives.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2025Article
- Concordance of Cancer Screening Attendance Among Spouse Couples: A Cross-Sectional Survey of the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project.Psycho-oncology · 2025Article
- The children of parents who receive treatment for binge-eating disorder experience improvements in disordered eating.The International journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
- Impact of social connectedness on weight loss outcomes in an online program.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Couple-based lifestyle intervention to prevent type 2 diabetes: protocol for a randomised pilot trial.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Similarities in cardiometabolic risk factors among random male-female pairs: a large observational study in Japan.BMC public health · 2022Observational
- Promises and Pitfalls of Dyads in the National Diabetes Prevention Program: Lifestyle Coach Perspectives.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2022Article
- DEVELOPMENT, FEASIBILITY, AND ACCEPTABILITY OF A BEHAVIORAL WEIGHT AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT INTERVENTION FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS AND INTIMATE PARTNERS.Journal of cancer rehabilitation · 2022Article
- Halo effect of a Mediterranean-lifestyle weight-loss intervention on untreated family members' weight and physical activity: a prospective study.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2021Article
- Commercial Weight Loss Programs in the Management of Obesity: an Update.Current obesity reports · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveFor married couples, when one spouse participates in weight loss treatment, the untreated spouse can also experience weight loss. This study examined this ripple effect in a nationally available weight management program.
methodsOne hundred thirty dyads were randomized to Weight Watchers (WW; n = 65) or to a self-guided control group (SG; n = 65) and assessed at 0, 3, and 6 months. Inclusion criteria were age ≥ 25 years, BMI 27 to 40 kg/m
resultsUntreated spouses lost weight at 3 months (WW = -1.5 ± 2.9 kg; SG = -1.1 ± 3.3 kg) and 6 months (WW = -2.2 ± 4.2 kg; SG = -1.9 ± 3.6 kg), but weight losses did not differ by condition. Overall, 32.0% of untreated spouses lost ≥ 3% of initial body weight by 6 months. Baseline weight was significantly correlated within couples (r = 0.26; P < 0.01) as were weight loss trajectories (r = 0.52; P < 0.001).
conclusionsEvidence of a ripple effect was found in untreated spouses in both formal and self-guided weight management approaches. These data suggest that weight loss can spread within couples, and that widely available lifestyle programs have weight loss effects beyond the treated individual.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.