Find Yourself Packing It On? Blame Friends

Posted by Kendall Harmon

Obesity can spread from person to person, much like a virus, researchers are reporting today. When one person gains weight, close friends tend to gain weight, too.

Their study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, involved a detailed analysis of a large social network of 12,067 people who had been closely followed for 32 years, from 1971 to 2003.

The investigators knew who was friends with whom as well as who was a spouse or sibling or neighbor, and they knew how much each person weighed at various times over three decades. That let them reconstruct what happened over the years as individuals became obese. Did their friends also become obese? Did family members? Or neighbors?

The answer, the researchers report, was that people were most likely to become obese when a friend became obese. That increased a person’s chances of becoming obese by 57 percent. There was no effect when a neighbor gained or lost weight, however, and family members had less influence than friends.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine

9 Comments
Posted July 26, 2007 at 6:04 pm [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. Irenaeus wrote:

“‘You change your idea of what is an acceptable body type by looking at the people around you,’ Dr. Christakis said.”

Yes, and your wide-waisted friends may also encourage you to spend more time in big-portion or all-you-can eat restaurants.

July 26, 6:17 pm | [comment link]
2. John B. Chilton wrote:

That friends have more influence than family suggests that the effect is the other way around—you choose your friends on the basis of how much they look like you and do not criticize your eatting habits. You can’t choose your family. I suppose that was accounted for in the study. Still, I wonder….

July 26, 6:32 pm | [comment link]
3. libraryjim wrote:

Frankly, I married someone who had totally different eating habits then I did, and we both quickly gained weight over time that we have never been able to get rid of.  It’s the “Friends and Family” plan!  raspberry

July 26, 6:59 pm | [comment link]
4. Wilfred wrote:

First it was second-hand smoke.

Now we have to worry about second-hand fat.

July 26, 7:35 pm | [comment link]
5. Sherri wrote:

LOL, Wilfred.  Since it’s said that Americans, in general, are overweight - perhaps these findings aren’t really too significant?

July 26, 8:02 pm | [comment link]
6. libraryjim wrote:

If the average american is over the average weight, wouldn’t that make the average weight higher?

July 26, 8:27 pm | [comment link]
7. In Texas wrote:

As someone who is fighting this battle, only me, myself, and I are to blame.  No one else is responsible for my eating but me.  Last September I tipped the scales at 270 pounds, this week I weighed in at 199.5.  I have gone from a 44” waist down to 34”, jogging 15 - 20 miles per week, and lifting weights.  I think John in #2 is correct, you probably want to associate with other people that would be non-judgemental on your weight or eating habits.  I’m a food a-holic.

July 26, 9:16 pm | [comment link]
8. Courageous Grace wrote:

I agree with “In Texas”.  The only person responsible for their weight is themselves.  And congrats on the weight loss, well done, keep up the good work!

I began exercising regularly in January and lost about 10 lbs, until I became pregnant, that is.  I have continued to exercise into my pregnancy as per Dr.‘s advice and have so far only gained 3 lbs (I’m 15 weeks along) even though I have expanded out of my regular clothing size.  Before anyone asks, yes my Dr. knows I’m not gaining a lot of weight and since I was 50 lbs overweight to begin with he’s okay with it.

July 27, 12:18 am | [comment link]
9. John316 wrote:

One can only blame the deadly sinful lifestyle choices of gluttony and sloth.  Society could be blamed for encouraging and accepting these sins I suppose, but it really comes back to those seven deadly sins we learned in Catholic grade school.

July 27, 12:22 am | [comment link]
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