NationStates Jolt Archive

Your fat friend: harmless whale or threat to your well-being?

A new government study shows that the fatness of your associates plays more of a role in determining whether *you* will be fat than even genetics!

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070725/D8QJT64G0.html

If your friends and family get fat, chances are you will too, researchers report in a startling new study that suggests obesity is "socially contagious" and can spread easily from person to person.

The large, federally funded study found that to be true even if your loved ones lived far away. Social ties seemed to play a surprisingly strong role, even more than genes are known to do.

...

"Because people are interconnected, their health is interconnected," said lead author Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a Harvard sociologist.


Do you find this to be true in your own life? We've all seen the 700lb (combined weight) couples walking the supermarket aisles together, after all. Will you distance yourself from your lard-laden friends or relatives for the sake of your own health? The study doesn't recommend it, but the writing on the wall still says that fat is contagious.

Poll is on the way.

A bit more from another recent article, if anyone isn't convinced of the threat. It's very real:

“Obesity is a public health crisis. If the rate of obesity and overweight continues at this pace, by 2015, 75 percent of adults and nearly 24 percent of U.S. children and adolescents will be overweight or obese,” Dr. Youfa Wang, who led the study, said in a statement.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19845784/

And of course, the rest of the world isn't too far behind. :eek:

It looks like some action needs to be taken; that is, unless you look forward to being one of the 75%.

Maybe that is because families EAT the same things. If someones parents cook and eat nothing but fried foods, chances are, you dont have much choice but to do the same. Same goes for wife/husband and anyone else that you have to live with.

Maybe that is because families EAT the same things. If someones parents cook and eat nothing but fried foods, chances are, you dont have much choice but to do the same. Same goes for wife/husband and anyone else that you have to live with.

That might be partially the case, though I doubt it's the main cause. Even families usually sit down to one meal together each day, if that. But the connection is undeniable, I think. The people around you seem to determine your health and well-being.

Why do you think bulimics hang out with other bulimics? They've always known that fat magically jumps from the body of the obese into that of the skinny. It corrupts their genes and makes them fatten just by breathing. :p

You get fat around fat people because you eat more when you're with fat people.

Why do you think bulimics hang out with other bulimics? They've always known that fat magically jumps from the body of the obese into that of the skinny. It corrupts their genes and makes them fatten just by breathing. :p

Y'know, I think I have noticed that. Similarly, the moderately-fat girls I remember from way back in my school days seemed to gravitate toward the very-fat ones. I always thought it was just a deviously simple plan to make themselves look better by comparison, but the fat might really have some kind of aura that draws people in. It's going to raise our healthcare premiums,at any rate - I'm sure of it. :(

Y'know, I think I have noticed that. Similarly, the moderately-fat girls I remember from way back in my school days seemed to gravitate toward the very-fat ones. I always thought it was just a deviously simple plan to make themselves look better by comparison, but the fat might really have some kind of aura that draws people in. It's going to kill our healthcare premiums,at any rate. :(

Only if you're American. ;) The rest of us still have (generally) universal healthcare...

I am a big fat pig, but since I started hanging out with thin friends I am loosing weight........although I am eating completely different and also exercising more and you know I am not on meds that make me fatter anymore.......but yeah, thin friends are making me lose weight.

That's cause you're breathing thin air... *nods*

I am a big fat pig, but since I started hanging out with thin friends I am loosing weight........although I am eating completely different and also exercising more and you know I am not on meds that make me fatter anymore.......but yeah, thin friends are making me lose weight.

I am a big fat pig, but since I started hanging out with thin friends I am loosing weight........although I am eating completely different and also exercising more and you know I am not on meds that make me fatter anymore.......but yeah, thin friends are making me lose weight.

Ah, but are *they* staying thin? ;) That would test the theory. Unless you're somehow feeding on their life-force, bringing down the collective weight of the group - that would also be something to look into, as a possible solution to the obesity epidemic.

Only if you're American. ;) The rest of us still have (generally) universal healthcare...

That's true. Although I think I'd rather keep the 15% of my income that would've gone toward something like that each year. :p The $5 co-pay doesn't seem to bad from that perspective. ;)

Ah, but are *they* staying thin? ;) That would test the theory. Unless you're somehow feeding on their life-force, bringing down the collective weight of the group - that would also be something to look into, as a possible solution to the obesity epidemic.

they all seem to be staying thin.......

although hubby has gotten fatter since we married but most of that is due to him being unhealthy before we met and not eating and such, now he gets 3 meals a day and isn't near death mostly.....sometimes.

they all seem to be staying thin.......

although hubby has gotten fatter since we married but most of that is due to him being unhealthy before we met and not eating and such, now he gets 3 meals a day and isn't near death mostly.....sometimes.

Well that's good. You're beating the odds, apparently, if 57% of people become obese after a friend does. :p

Well that's good. You're beating the odds, apparently, if 57% of people become obese after a friend does. :p

oh, he is only overweight now.......and I have lost myself down to 27% fat, which is really good, considering where I started.....

oh, he is only overweight now.......and I have lost myself down to 27% fat, which is really good, considering where I started.....

That's cool. I have a few pounds to lose myself, though I usually rely on the scale moreso than percentages, which I'm not sure how to calculate. :p

I guess the wording of the study might mean that 57% become obese once a friend who was previously thin becomes obese, rather than that surrounding yourself with obese people means you will become that way too. I'm guessing a similar thing happens, but not as rapidly.

That's cool. I have a few pounds to lose myself, though I usually rely on the scale moreso than percentages, which I'm not sure how to calculate. :p

I guess the wording of the study might mean that 57% become obese once a friend who was previously thin becomes obese, rather than that surrounding yourself with obese people means you will become that way too. I'm guessing a similar thing happens, but not as rapidly.

according to the BMI for my height/weight ratio I am morbidly obese, but according to my body fat percentage I am just on the lower side of overweight, my muscle is heavy, really heavy. Your weight is misleading, you need to know how much of it is fat and how much is muscle, there is a huge difference between a man who weighs 200lbs and has 60% fat and a man who weighs 200lbs and has 20% fat.

when i was at school and 1st year of uni most of my friends were a bit chubby. now none of my friends are (although one of my friends has scales that actually tell her she's fat which is ridiculous cuz she isn't even vaguely fat) and i've fluctuated within the same weight range for about 6 years. in fact my first year of uni i was at my thinnest despite being stoned all the time, now i'm probably at my fattest. guess i don't fit the research.

My dad has been overweight since he was a child and now weighs over 400 pounds. Guess what? I'm underweight at about 110 lbs (5'6" tall), one of my brothers is about 5'8" or 5'9" and weighs about the same as I do, and my other brother (they're fraternal twins, 14 years old) is about 5'9" or a bit more than that and weighs about 140 pounds. So no, I don't think so.

My dad has been overweight since he was a child and now weighs over 400 pounds. Guess what? I'm underweight at about 110 lbs (5'6" tall), one of my brothers is about 5'8" or 5'9" and weighs about the same as I do, and my other brother (they're fraternal twins, 14 years old) is about 5'9" or a bit more than that and weighs about 140 pounds. So no, I don't think so.

According to the study, it's friends, siblings and spouses, moreso than a parent. ;) Kids tend to want to be different than their parents if possible, so that doesn't surprise me - your parents are your parents after all, not your pals.

when i was at school and 1st year of uni most of my friends were a bit chubby. now none of my friends are (although one of my friends has scales that actually tell her she's fat which is ridiculous cuz she isn't even vaguely fat) and i've fluctuated within the same weight range for about 6 years. in fact my first year of uni i was at my thinnest despite being stoned all the time, now i'm probably at my fattest. guess i don't fit the research.

You know, some things I don't understand.

Such as a 5'6'' girl saying that she's to fat because she weighs just over 120 lbs.

Quite frankly, I thought she was hot as hell. And she was.

What world do we live in when the "ideal" weight in some people mind is 90 lbs, regardless of height?

Eh?

Now, I weigh 170 lbs, and could lose a tad of weight(I have love handly things, and I don't like them), but I know that if I were to drop 30 lbs, I wouldn't exactly be at ideal weight.

according to the BMI for my height/weight ratio I am morbidly obese, but according to my body fat percentage I am just on the lower side of overweight, my muscle is heavy, really heavy. Your weight is misleading, you need to know how much of it is fat and how much is muscle, there is a huge difference between a man who weighs 200lbs and has 60% fat and a man who weighs 200lbs and has 20% fat.

That's true, of course. I have some idea of my fat/muscle ratio - I just use the scale to keep up with where my weight's going. I don't own any calipers, besides. :p

Didn't the study also conclude that, no matter the distance between you and you're friends, you're still likely to get chubby if they are, even if you're in Italy and they're in California?

Oh, and your risk is 3x as high as normal if your best friend is chubby. Yeah, sure. Chuck this one in the "Take with a box full of salt... and vinegar... chips."

Such as a 5'6'' girl saying that she's to fat because she weighs just over 120 lbs.


I would feel fat if I weighed over 120 lbs. Sometimes I even feel fat now, but then I think about it and know that I'm underweight or look in the mirror and see the ribs.

According to the study, it's friends, siblings and spouses, moreso than a parent. Kids tend to want to be different than their parents if possible, so that doesn't surprise me - your parents are your parents after all, not your pals.

Ok. That makes a little more sense then. I don't know if any of my friends are overweight or not, as I tend not to notice that much unless they mention it- like when my friend lost about 10 lbs after she had her tonsils removed.

Didn't the study also conclude that, no matter the distance between you and you're friends, you're still likely to get chubby if they are, even if you're in Italy and they're in California?

Oh, and your risk is 3x as high as normal if your best friend is chubby. Yeah, sure. Chuck this one in the "Take with a box full of salt... and vinegar... chips."

They surveyed something like 12,000 people. That's no small number. ;)

The closer the friendship, though, the greater the risk. So the risk probably declines if they're in Italy.

Maybe they forgot that America is just plain fat?

Or they just went to the local McDonalds at different survey locations to ask people why they eat. ;)

I don't have to worry, I don't have any fat friends. Though I think one of my friends is anorexic, she's 80 pounds! :eek:

But my Mum was 80 pounds when she graduated high school. :eek:

I'm 5'8, 130 pounds, and I'm the second fattest person in my circle of friends. :D

Herd reassurance. "I'm not that fat, compared to them.":(

I have a hyper metabolism that prevents me from gaining weight, so being around fat people does not affect me either way. I have been the same size since I was 15: 5'8", 135 Lbs.

Is this the Hundredth Chunky Monkey Theory? Time to quarantine America...

I have a hyper metabolism that prevents me from gaining weight, so being around fat people does not affect me either way. I have been the same size since I was 15: 5'8", 135 Lbs.

Seriously? I used to have a pretty high metabolism. I think I hit 5'8" during my 16th year(ie, before my 16th birthday), and I was around 50 kg(110 lbs) at the time. These days, it's around 66 kg(145 lbs). I'm a guy though, and I've always had a lot more bone density than normal, I think.:)

*snip

I can answer that with a flat-out no. I'm the only obese person in my family, and in my circle of friends and acquaintances.

Meh I simply started eating less and cut out all snacks. It's amazing how quickly you lose weight when you listen only to your body and say it's ok to be a little hungry. It's easier than most people think it is. Starting may be the only hard part.

Y'know... all those calculations of who is overweight, and at what weight or percenteag of body fat you are considered morbidly obese are kind of funny. I'll have to dig a bit, but I think I still got some brochures from the 1960s around somewhere. The "ideal weight" that's being promoted has dropped dramatically since then, let me tell you. Doesn't change the fact that I'm fat, and I was considered fat back then, too, but what's called ideal weight now would have been reagrded as morbidly underweight back then.

It's a fad, folks.

That makes sense to me. When your friends are fat, you don't feel bad about eating like a pig or not exercising.

Your fat friend: harmless whale or threat to your well-being?

A new government study shows that the fatness of your associates plays more of a role in determining whether *you* will be fat than even genetics!

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070725/D8QJT64G0.html



Do you find this to be true in your own life? We've all seen the 700lb (combined weight) couples walking the supermarket aisles together, after all. Will you distance yourself from your lard-laden friends or relatives for the sake of your own health? The study doesn't recommend it, but the writing on the wall still says that fat is contagious.

Poll is on the way.


You must be kidding

You get fat around fat people because you eat more when you're with fat people.

Fat people don't make others fat, if that were the case, my daughter, who is too damn thin, would be fat.

Occam's razor, the simplest explanation is, most likely, the correct explanation. Simply speaking, fat people hang together because they have things in common. Skinny people hang together because they have things in common. These "researchers" are trying to over-complicate a simple fact. People hang out with their own kind - It's easier and it feels better.

I have noticed that, though, that when one fat person gets baryatric surgery, at least three more of his/her associates do it, too (if they can afford it).

This study is flawed. It isn't that you are influenced by your friends being fat as much as you are likely to share common interests with your friends.

If you are someone who is active, exercises and plays sports, you will seek out friends who share that interest so you have a buddy to play sports with.

If you are a fat TV watching slob, then you will find friends who share that past time with you.

My question is how many millions of dollars did the government waste on this stupid study.

fat might really have some kind of aura that draws people in.

Yep. It's called gravity.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

My tax dollars were to used to inform me that fat is contagious? Oh goodness.

You must be kidding

About which part? Also, a simple 'no,' will do if you think the study's conclusions aren't valid. They look pretty solid to me, but that's only my opinion. :p

My tax dollars were to used to inform me that fat is contagious? Oh goodness.

Yeah, I know. :p On the other hand, it's probably not the most useless study that's been done lately.

Herd reassurance. "I'm not that fat, compared to them.":(

That seems to be the idea, after all the cash they threw at the problem. They probably could've just asked around, it seems. :p

So there goes that barrier.

See, used to be, you could be eating Big Macs and fattening up and costing the taxpayers millions in health care for all the heart failure and whatnot. But you could still point to evil cigarette smokers and declare, proudly: "Yeah, it's a bad habit but at least I'm not hurting anyone but myself - unlike those baby-killing hell-spawned tobacco users!"

No more! Now you fatties are JUST AS MURDEROUS. Per capita, that is - while smokers have always been a minority, the study itself shows that in a few years, 75% of the country will be fat.

Will be, that is, murderers who are killing everyone around them with their vile, stinking habit!

In fact, since cigarettes are an appetite suppressant, tobacco smokers are now not only less deadly and prevalent than food abusers, but doing their part to fight against the obesity epidemic. We're patriots. We're defending the homeland. We asked not what our country could do for us, but what we could do for it.

I deserve a medal!

Denis Leary had the right idea when he read a report back in the 90s that proposed that obesity was a virus. "You're not big-boned, you're big assed."

Did anyone else look at this study and yawn with a big "DUH"? OF COURSE the people you hang out with have an effect on your behavior! We're social animals, for the most part. Anyone who's ever been on or taken a group like a team or performing ensemble on tour can see that even women's menstrual cycles will start to synchronize after a while. It isn't a disease, it's communal behavior, and the fact that someone had to study it makes me suspect that somewhere, some rich fat guy is looking for an out that doesn't involve exercise and sensible eating.

So let's continue the news flashes: Hanging out with friends who drink or smoke or do drugs or vandalize or play video games or knit or anything else, INCREASES your likelihood of getting into those things. You hang out with people because of -- wait for it -- commonality! They had a name for this whe I was learning about drugs in elementary school...let's see...OH yeah -- peer pressure. This is NOT news, folks. The fact that peer pressure can be passive-aggressive is perhaps not widely reported, but if you're honest with yourself, you know it's true. Say you're trying to avoid desserts as part of your diet. Just try and decline when you're out with some kinds of people. They will cajole you into doing what you told yourself you wouldn't.

If you give something up that you and your peer group have been doing for a while, hanging out with them becomes more difficult -- especially if it's a vice of some sort. Why should gluttony be any different?

Also, the availability of all kinds of food from all over the planet has aided the obesity crisis here. I think reigning in international food shipping and returning to local producers so that your potato doesn't have to come from 3000 miles away would help obesity as well as pollution/resource management. Yes, we need things like oranges/orange juice across the nation for vitamin content, and vital stuff like that which only grows in certain parts of the country should be shipped. But there are other sources for nutrients like that. We've become a nation that acts like a spoiled child on numerous occasions, and mealtime is one of them.

Thing is, there's no way in hell any kind of socialist government agenda will ever change that. It's gotta happen from within the populace, but the motivation of obesity prevalence even in children hasn't stopped much yet. Perhaps it will -- but so long as it's cheaper to eat crap and "organic" and "vegetarian" and like healthy choices cost much more (I committed to soy milk, for example, and it's now at $4 a HALF gallon, versus a gallon of even nonfat milk at about $3.60 -- I'm still committed, but man, it's expensive) -- so long as that imbalance exists, this country is gonna be a legion of porkers. Just go to Vegas or other warm climate vacation destinations. Good grief, we got fatties in this country.

Denis Leary, again, gave me my inspiration to examine my food behavior when he said "if I look down and I can't see my dick, I STOP EATING." For me it was that, and man boobs. *shudder* I topped out at 220lbs. at 6' tall (100kg at 182cm) and a solid A-cup. I'm now art 205lbs. (93kg) and a AA-cup. More work to do, but the thing is, I FEEL better. And taking up hiking has shown me things I'd never have seen before, and here's the best cost benefit -- exercise takes the place of my antidepressants. I've been off them for a year and a half, and I swing up and down, but I feel better after yoga or a few miles on the bike or a hike through the Badlands.

It's not a disease until it's allowed to become one, folks. I'm a lazy-ass and I know it. If I can do some of this shit, so can everyone.

Rather than wage a "war on fatness" why don't they wage a war on inept politicians and studies. I'll still be friends with fat people and I'll still encourage them to be happy whatever they do. If they want to eat a lot then by damn go for it.

Rather than wage a "war on fatness" why don't they wage a war on inept politicians and studies. I'll still be friends with fat people and I'll still encourage them to be happy whatever they do. If they want to eat a lot then by damn go for it.

Well, it's true that the study probably assumes that people *don't* want diabetes, heart disease, a higher risk of cancer, etc. But of course, everyone is free to go their own way. :p

That settles it: I'm keeping the hell away from fat people. I've never had to put any work into staying in great shape, and I'm sure as hell not about to start now. :p

That settles it: I'm keeping the hell away from fat people. I've never had to put any work into staying in great shape, and I'm sure as hell not about to start now. :p

Good call. :p

My mom is chunky...O_O

My mom is chunky...O_O

Don't worry. According the study, it's your friends, siblings and/or spouse that determine whether you'll follow them into obesity. Parents didn't seem to do it. ;) Although you may want to keep an eye on her.

Don't worry. According the study, it's your friends, siblings and/or spouse that determine whether you'll follow them into obesity. Parents didn't seem to do it. ;) Although you may want to keep an eye on her.

Awww. *puts away spear and torch*

So you're in real trouble if all your friends are fat alcoholic drugged-addicted smokers!

Y'know... if we can establish that this works the other way around, then maybe I can convince some of my fat friends to help me clone myself.