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.
“We were stunned to find that friends who are hundreds of miles away have just as much impact on a person’s weight status as friends who are right next door,” said co-author James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego.
The study found a person’s chances of becoming obese went up 57 percent if a friend did, 40 percent if a sibling did and 37 percent if a spouse did. In the closest friendships, the risk almost tripled.
Researchers think it’s more than just people with similar eating and exercise habits hanging out together. Instead, it may be that having relatives and friends who become obese changes one’s idea of what is an acceptable weight.
Despite their findings, the researchers said people should not sever their relationships.
“There is a ton of research that suggest that having more friends makes you healthier,” Fowler said. “So the last thing that you want to do is get rid of any of your friends.”
The study was published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine and funded by the National Institute on Aging.
Researchers analyzed medical records of people in the Framingham Heart Study, which has been following the health of residents of that Boston suburb for more than a half century. They tracked records for relatives and friends using contact information that participants provided each time they were examined over a 32-year period.
In all, 12,067 people – all Framingham participants – were involved in the study.
After taking into account natural weight gain and other factors, researchers found the greatest influence occurred among friends and not in people sharing the same genes or living in the same household. Geography and smoking cessation had no effect on obesity risk.
On average, the researchers calculated, when an obese person gained 17 pounds, the corresponding friend put on an extra 5 pounds.
Gender also had a strong influence. In same-sex friendships, a person’s obesity risk increased by 71 percent if a friend gained weight. Between brothers, the risk was up by 44 percent and 67 percent between sisters.
Indiana University statistician Stan Wasserman said while the study was clever, it had its limitations because it excluded relationships outside of the Framingham group.
Obesity is a global public health problem. About 1.5 billion adults worldwide are overweight, including more than 400 million who are obese. Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese.
Much of the recent research focus has been on the intense hunt for obesity genes involved in appetite or calorie burning. Treatment has been mainly centered on helping individuals curb their weight through better diet and fitness.
The findings could open a new avenue for treating this worldwide epidemic. The researchers said it might be helpful to treat obese people in groups instead of just the individual.
“Because people are interconnected, their health is interconnected,” said lead author Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a Harvard sociologist.
Obesity experts not involved in the research said the results back up what they have suspected all along – that people look toward one another for what is an acceptable weight.
“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.
: 有道理的，我以前很瘦的，自从谈了一个比较胖的BF以后，自己就...
Gothic-Dark: 额，好奇怪的理论。我倒是没这方面的经验，而且我发现在我身边的...
haryewkun: 胖的原因有很多，饮食习惯只是其一，生活习惯却是更重要的一个因...
Lion: 呜呜......我愁胖不了。
su: 爲什麽瘦人和胖人在一起會變胖？
那胖人和瘦人在一起不會變瘦...
有道理的，我以前很瘦的，自从谈了一个比较胖的BF以后，自己就开始变胖了。即使现在已经分了，可是体重也没下来。亏啊~~~
呜呜……我愁胖不了。
胖的原因有很多，饮食习惯只是其一，生活习惯却是更重要的一个因素。如果一个人整天坐在那边打 CS，又厌恶运动，能不影响肥胖程度吗？然后朋友的交往，很多时候也反映了生活习惯的爱好。如果我喜欢坐在那边打 CS，喜欢每个周末去打网球的朋友当然不大会找我。所以就会得出这篇文章的结论，你有越胖的朋友，你自己也可能很胖。
Unknow:2007-07-30 12:18 PM
胖人和瘦人朋友在一起会不会变瘦呢？
额，好奇怪的理论。我倒是没这方面的经验，而且我发现在我身边的朋友中，有很相反的现象，有几对很要好的朋友，几乎是形影不离的那种，他们往往是一个较胖，一个较瘦 -__-!
我倒是想胖一点，看来以后要跟胖子同学多接触了，o(∩_∩)o…
走走:2007-07-30 12:26 PM
那估计要看那个人的影响力更大一些了吧。
Troizn:2007-07-30 15:24 PM
胖子都喜欢大口大口吃肉,瘦人大多没食欲,难道食欲会传染?
monochrome:2007-07-30 19:11 PM
还好我周围的朋友都是火柴型的…….
LeaF:2007-07-30 19:36 PM
我爸爸很胖诶！但是我好像不是很胖。。。
eden:2007-07-30 20:57 PM
享受、健康
很难选择呢
宇宙:2007-07-30 21:23 PM
呵呵，听起来比较搞笑啊！原来是这样的（我妈问我为什么我爸胖我们却这么瘦？）或许肥胖本身还是一个更加复杂的问题，而饿多饿多的可能性增加或减少……反而使可能性更加扑朔迷离。
Liger:2007-07-31 8:02 AM
这可能都不是心理学原因了，应是生活方式相仿导致的吧？
蟹粉小笼包:2007-07-31 9:43 AM
也算是心理原因导致的啦！蛮有道理的。
Guest:2007-08-26 21:57 PM
我爸我妈都超级瘦~~
我却很胖！！
yoku:2007-08-31 16:18 PM
我不苟同这道理！！
yoyo:2007-09-07 17:08 PM
和一个肥胖的朋友在一起，他的饮食习惯、生活习惯以及运动习惯都在影响你。当然你也就很容易受它影响了。比如，当她吃薯片时，可能他吃一大包，你就会吃好几片，当她吃冰淇淋时，你也会舔几口奶油~~久而久之，你就胖了
爲什麽瘦人和胖人在一起會變胖？
那胖人和瘦人在一起不會變瘦麽。。
我怎麽覺得我自從喜歡上一個挺瘦的男生之後。我半年來瘦了好幾斤- -
籍秋风:2007-10-11 11:27 AM
有些人的体质比较特殊，属于怎么吃也胖不了的。应该排除在这个理论之外！
NEURONE:2007-11-06 17:07 PM
对比对象变了标准也许也变了`
MindFlay:2007-12-16 2:52 AM
Interindividual Variation in Posture Allocation: Possible Role in Human Obesity
这文章里有写到过的。
obese individuals have a biologically determined posture allocation and therefore are destined to become obese.
近肥胖的人可能因为学习了肥胖者的习惯，例如Posture，那么消耗卡路里减少了，在摄入能量一定的情况下自然会变胖。
Guest:2007-12-25 20:48 PM
有减肥成功的例子吗
说来听听
℡冇⒈罪﹎:2008-01-04 17:43 PM
~“每个人都会可以长胖~`以前我总以为自己长不胖`~自我双腿骨折在家休息了一个月~`竟然胖了10多斤~“虽然看起来还是不胖~`但这证明长胖其实很容易！~
但我要瘦下来就两天 的事~~
芝:2008-07-31 20:59 PM
近瘦者也不见得瘦呀~~
（本人身边都是瘦子）
Guest:2008-11-19 11:00 AM
还好我家里的人都不胖。呵呵。全家都暴瘦，吃什么都不胖最胖的是我。哈哈
同同:2009-03-25 1:43 AM
呃。好像有这么一回事……
champ2:2009-06-12 19:48 PM
对啊
为自己奋斗:2011-03-11 23:34 PM
应该受身边的人的生活方式影响，被同化了吧，所以自己才会变胖的
Guest:2011-06-16 9:17 AM
这很难说到底谁会影响谁，应该跟气场有关。举个例子，我有两个同事都很胖，其中一个很好客，和他走的较近的几个同事都说自己胖了（从他们的腰围看的出）；另一个同事有个爱健身的朋友，所以他也时不时的拿着哑铃练练。
我来说两句