Are Your Friends Thin or Round?

The company we keep, especially female company if we are females, may have a powerful impact on whether we are thin or round. A new study from the Dept. of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School suggests that when a person becomes obese, perhaps it makes it more socially acceptable for people close to him or her to also gain weight.

What I found most interesting in the study results was:

• Siblings and spouses had less influence than friends (aw darn! My husband is strong and trim!)


• Being friends had an effect on weight, even if the friends didn't live near each other.


• People of the same sex influenced each other the most.
  

The researchers think "emulation" is partly to blame. Well, after looking that word up (it means "trying to equal or surpass somebody or something") what does that say about us?...that we are perhaps more interested or inspired to emulate other female friends than we are our spouses or siblings?

I can honestly say, I have friends in all shapes and sizes (and probably the ladies with the healthiest lifestyles, aren't necessarily the thinnest ones) and I'm not emulating anyone at the moment. Even when people all around me were falling for the latest fad diet (I won't mention any names) I went about my usual business of focusing on health and happiness and not obsessing with weight or weight loss.

But this study certainly gives us something to think about. If your friends start looking at you a little funny, maybe just maybe, they read the study too!

The New England Journal of Medicine, July 26, 2007
Christakis N.A. et al., "The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years"

Related Topics:

• Foil Your Friendly Diet Foes
• Choosing a Weight Loss Buddy

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