Today
Do Your Friends Make You Fat?
by Jed Diamond
Posted July 29, 2007 5:20 PM
Posted July 29, 2007 5:20 PM
Posted in
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The latest estimates are that unless we make significant changes in how we eat, 70% of women and 90% of men will become overweight during our life-times. Though there are a lot of reasons we gain weight including genetics, stress, lack of exercise, readily available high-fat foods, corporate greed, etc., a new study suggests that weight gain my be contagious.
We may be picking up those extra pounds as a result of our social interactions with friends and family. And this is no "pop" psych study. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it involved a detailed analysis of a large social network of 12,067 people who had been closely followed for 32 years, from 1971 until 2003. Here’s what they found.
According to the studies lead researcher, Dr. Nicholas Christakis from Harvard, "If your close friend becomes obese, you are then almost 60 percent more likely to become obese, too." When I first heard these statistics, I couldn’t believe it. In my mind when I’m around friends who are putting on weight, I think to myself, "I don’t want to look like that. I have to try harder to keep my weight under control." However, I suspect the influence friends have on each other may be more subtle. Weight-loss is difficult. I know when I look around at my friends, it’s easy to justify my own weight gain. "Hey, we’re all putting on a few pounds. We’re not really overweight." This conclusion is validated by the Harvard study. "When people around you gain weight," says Dr. Christakis, "your attitudes about what constitutes an acceptable body size changes, and you might then follow suit and emulate that body size." Family members influence our weight-gain as well. "Obesity spreads through friends and through spouses and through siblings," says Dr. James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, another one of the study’s authors. Among married couples, when one spouse becomes obese, the risk to the other increases by 37 percent. For siblings, the risk rises 40 percent.
Interestingly there was no effect if a neighbor gained or lost weight. It seems we are influenced by those we are closest with—friends and family. Proximity did not seem to matter: The influence of the friend remained, even if the friend was hundreds of miles away. And the greatest influence of all was between mutual close friends. There, if one became obese, the odds of the other becoming obese nearly tripled.
If our close social networks can help make us fat, can they also help us lose weight?
What’s your experience? Have you noticed that you are more accepting of weight-gain when a close friend or family member gains weight? Have you found that losing weight together can give you the social support you need to stay on your program?
Comments (5)
Have something to say? Share your thoughts.
Posted August 5, 2007 10:57 AM
I agree what redbug and Jed Diamond have contributed. The research actually didn't blame it to people or friends who are obese. The purpose of the research is to show us how they can influence our body and how can we be responsible. Lots of people might use this as an excuse of being obese and tell others with this report "See! not my fault!"
This reports actually show us how we can control and be responsible with our own weight by being close with which kind of friend. Let's take action to move on! Lose some weights!
Posted August 2, 2007 12:59 PM
No doubt that is correct. I am walking every day right now to support a woman who has lost 50 pounds and needs to lose another 50. So we absolutely can support one another. However, she has to make the final determination whether or not she is going to walk or eat or exercixe, or not.
It'd be easy for me to eat when I'm around her and she is eating. But I choose not to. That's when the rubber meets the road. Still, I need to lose a little weight myself but it is not because of anyone's poor choices but my own that I have the 10 pounds to lose.
Posted August 2, 2007 3:50 AM
Redbug,
Indeed we do need to take responsibility for what we eat, how we eat, and the standards we have for how our bodies best function.
The good news is that friends can help friends lose weight. Walk together, eat good food together, enjoy being healthy.
We can all help ourselves as we help each other.
Posted August 2, 2007 2:34 AM
We may be tempted to eat when we are around peole who do, and we may feel it is OK to be overweight if the ones we hang around with are, but the bottom line is that no one puts food in our mouths except ourelves. We all need to take rsponsibility for whatever we do, which seems like a lost art anymore.
Posted August 27, 2007 3:50 PM
This study reminded me about the shocking front page story that announced women who didn't marry before 30 were doomed to never marry. In short, I think it is a crock and increases the growing discrimination and hate towards fat people (especially women, who seem to be the primary target of hate).
The story implies that fat friends will make you fat. The study doesn't prove this at all.
Now, if you come from a fat family -- either genetics or poor eating habits -- then yes, I will believe this will greatly influence whether or not an individual is going to be fat as an adult. Married couples can also influence each other's weight simply because they are most likely sharing a similar diet. Even there, though, I've seen plenty of examples of married couples where one is thin and one gains weight.
But fat friends? Fat isn't a contagious disease people.
The study was very limited in scope and doesn't prove a thing. The article was hype and irresponsible.
People are becoming more obese today for obvious reasons (which do not require multi-millions of dollars to study):
1) Increased access of and use of fast foods. These didn't exist on every street corner 30 years ago. Also, the era of "super sizing" everything has contributed as has the last decade or so of fancy and calorie-ladened lattes.
2) Decrease of exercise (especially kids) -- phys-ed is no longer required in many schools and kids are leading much more sedentary lifestyles than 30 years ago. So are adults.
3) Increase consumption of saturated fats.
4) Fewer natural foods in our diets -- fresh fruit, vegetables, etc.
Of course, for the boomers, we're also battling slower metabolism, so yes, we're getting fatter.
But the concept that fat friends make their skinny friends fat is ridiculous.
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