Does the presence of friends increase food intake in youth?
These results extend previous research by suggesting that the effect of the partners' weight statuses may add to the facilitative effect of familiarity and result in greater energy intake in overweight youth and their friends. Behavioral similarity among overweight youth may increase the difficulty of promoting long-term changes because the youths' social network is likely to reinforce overeating. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00874055.
Health educators and policy makers should consider broadening UMC's enrollment policies, and greater emphasis should be placed on recruiting physicians.