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Jill Patir: Hug Your Loved Ones a Little Tighter
Study: obesity is 'socially contagious'
Filed under: Just For Moms, Just For Dads, Relatives, Siblings, Nutrition: Health
Take a look at your closest friends and family. According to researchers at the University of California, if any of them are obese, you have an increased chance of becoming obese as well. They found this to be true even if those close friends and family live thousands of miles away. Rather than blaming it on similar eating habits among those who are close, they say it is possibly due to the fact that those with obese friends and family members have a distorted view of what is an acceptable weight.
Researchers analyzed the medical records of people participating in the Framingham Heart Study, which has been tracking the health of the same group of 12,067 people for over fifty years. They found that a person's chances of becoming obese went up by 57% if a friend became obese, 40% if a sibling did and 37% if a spouse did. If it was a very close friend, the chances of becoming obese as well almost tripled.
"If you're just a little bit heavy and everyone around you is quite heavier, you will feel good when you look in a mirror," said Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.
These researchers aren't suggesting that you drop your fat friends in order to lose weight. But two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese and experts think that maybe treating them in groups rather than individually might be more successful in helping them drop that weight.
Researchers analyzed the medical records of people participating in the Framingham Heart Study, which has been tracking the health of the same group of 12,067 people for over fifty years. They found that a person's chances of becoming obese went up by 57% if a friend became obese, 40% if a sibling did and 37% if a spouse did. If it was a very close friend, the chances of becoming obese as well almost tripled.
"If you're just a little bit heavy and everyone around you is quite heavier, you will feel good when you look in a mirror," said Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.
These researchers aren't suggesting that you drop your fat friends in order to lose weight. But two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese and experts think that maybe treating them in groups rather than individually might be more successful in helping them drop that weight.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
7-27-2007 @ 11:15AM
SKL said...Or maybe overweight people feel more comfortable with other overweight people and better identify with them?
I get the feeling two-thirds of Americans are looking to blame their obesity on ANYTHING other than their own choices.
My best friend is obese, and all I've done is lose weight in the 18 years since I met her. Why? Because while she doesn't believe in her own will-power, I believe in mine. However, she was excited to hear of this research because we have another obese friend whom she can now blame for her obesity. And vice versa. Yeah!
Reply
7-27-2007 @ 11:39AM
Nicola said...This made me laugh. I live in Illinois right now, but call southern California home. I am positively svelt in the midwest even when well over my "normal" weight, but every time we are nearing a trip home to San Diego, I have to diet, quick!
There are a lot of reasons for obesity, primarily what people eat and how little they exercise, but certainly you will be less motivated to watch your weight if everybody around you is massive. You can still be 10 lbs overweight and feel great about your figure. I wouldn't link it as a direct cause, but it probably helps to keep the cycle moving.
Reply
7-27-2007 @ 12:37PM
Amanda said...I agree with SKL on this one.
has anyone seen the movie Norbit? watch it its hysterical, especially the part where Norbit's ENORMOUSLY huge wife is telling the skinny girl,
"don't you blame god for being skinny! nobody forced you to push that plate away!"
hee hee hee
see, its funny because we always tell fat people that God didn't make them fat, nobody forced them to go for seconds...
okay,
anyway
just watch the movie
Reply
7-27-2007 @ 10:07PM
Belinda said...Blah Blah Blah, I heard this on the news and we started laughing!
The only think I say is CLOSE to this for us is when I was pregnant with my daughter my fiance gained weight too, mainly because since I filled up quickly he ate my left overs all the time! LOL!
I think this study is a load of crock, I have a few friend that are overweight and they were like that when I met them and the ones that are not haven't gained at all!!
Reply
7-28-2007 @ 2:59AM
Jennifer said...Honestly I don't know what to think of this!! I saw it on the news and thought it was amazing that your sibling (who you share genes with) and your spouse (who you share food with) would be a smaller percentage than your best friend.. Just goes to show that you can prove just about anything.
Reply