Shares of Weight Watchers International (WTW) experienced a notable spike last Friday after the company trumpeted an academic study that supports the efficiency of the program. The study found out that adults with prediabetes had significantly lost more weight with the use of the program.
New York Post reported that Weight Watchers' shares soared at more than 18 percent last Friday. The notable surge came after the weight loss company issued a press release that an Indiana University School of Medicine study found out that its program is very effective in helping a group of adults with prediabetes in losing a significant amount of weight.
However, the credibility of the findings was questioned after the company also revealed in the press release that they had funded the study. Harvard Medical School professor and director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center David Ludwig, said funding research that produces affirming results is not a good scientific practice.
"We found that if a food company sponsored a research study, the outcomes were four to eight times more likely to be more favorable to that company's interests than if the study was independently funded," Ludwig explained.
According to the Business Insider, the study, which was published in the American Journal of Public Health, stated that participants of the prediabetes-specific Weight Watchers program had effectively lost 5.5 percent of their body weight after six months and maintained the same weight loss at 12 months. It also suggests that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes could be reduced by 58 percent if people will shed seven percent of their body weight through the program.
Aside from the company-funded study, the spike of Weight Watchers' shares was also attributed to Oprah Winfrey's recent announcement that she had lost 26 pounds using the program. Winfrey is one of the stakeholders of the company. Her long-time bestfriend, Gayle King, also tweeted last Friday that she had lost 25 pounds after using the program for several months.
