An obesity study, which looked at data from more than 12,000 individuals who were observed repeatedly between 1971 and 2003, has come up with some rather puzzling results. Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego, found that having overweight friends and family increases an individual’s risk of becoming overweight too, making obesity, in effect, socially contagious.
The risk of becoming obese increased by a massive 57% if a friend was obese, but interestingly only increased by 37% if a spouse was. In cases of siblings, the rate of increase was 40%. According to scientists, these results could not be solely attributed to similarities in lifestyle, since the effect occurred even in friends who weren’t geographically close.
They speculate that perhaps peoples' ideas of what they deem acceptable for their own body image change as their friends and family get larger. "People come to think that it is OK to be bigger since those around them are bigger, and this sensibility spreads," co-author Professor Nicholas Christakis, explained to the BBC. Perhaps we should all consider eating more healthily, not just for selfish reasons but for the sake of our friends.
Leave a comment