If someone you consider a friend becomes obese, your chances of becoming obese yourself increase by 57 percent, according to new research from Harvard and the University of California, San Diego. “Mutual friends” more than triple each other’s obesity risk: if one of the two become obese the risk to the other increases by 171 percent!
According to researchers, weight gain appears to be “socially contagious,” spreading among people in a social network.
Lead researcher Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School states:
“What appears to be happening is that a person becoming obese most likely causes a change of norms about what counts as an appropriate body size. People come to think that it is okay to be bigger since those around them are bigger, and this sensibility spreads.”
James Fowler of UC San Diego adds:
“This is about people’s ideas about their bodies and their health… Consciously or unconsciously, people look to others when they are deciding how much to eat, how much to exercise and how much weight is too much.”
Fortunately, the study also found that you have a greater chance of losing weight if your friends lose weight.
According to Fowler:
“If you’re going on a diet, then you want to convince them to go on a diet. If you want to start to run or to change your exercise behavior, you also want to encourage your friends to engage in those behaviors.”
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