New study suggests that making friends with people who are in the same boat as you might be helpful for you to keep off extra pounds, reports the Daily Mail.

Touted as the 'ripple effect', the proposed weight loss trick involves sharing the same motivation and dreams and working together to attain a common weight loss goal. The study, conducted by researchers from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, unveiled that an overweight or obese person stands a significantly greater chance to lose weight when s/he is closely connected to a network of people with high body mass index (BMI), compared to fighting a lone battle against obesity.

"In our study, weight loss clearly clustered within teams, which suggests that teammates influenced each other", the British tabloid quotes lead study author Dr Tricia Leahey as saying. Dr Leahey emphasises that there is a lot of demonstration effects involved with slimming, the Mail notes.

According to the source, the researchers evaluated the findings of a 2009 weight loss campaign that ran online for 3 months, involving 3,330 obese people with BMI of 31+. The participants were divided into 987 teams, the Mail informs, adding that the people who shared a good rapport with their teammates and communicated frequently with each other lost on an average one-fifth of their initial body weight.

It's all about utilising 'positive peer pressure' to good health effects, the lead researcher notes, suggesting that modern-day obesity treatment can take a cue from the study and build a social environment congenial for weight loss.