Are Friends And Family Making You Fat?

A New Study Suggests Weight Gain Is "Socially Contagious"

(CBS)  Here's some food for thought: If you're watching your weight, you may not be getting by with a little help from your friends. Dr. Jon LaPook has more on a study released Wednesday that says when someone packs on the pounds, his or her close friends and relatives often do the same.

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For all of us looking for another excuse for putting on a few pounds, we've got a whopper.

"Obesity spreads through friends and through spouses and through siblings," says James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego.

The study says obesity has become a "socially contagious" disease — spreading person to person almost like a virus.

Among married couples, when one spouse becomes obese, the risk to the other increases by 37 percent. For siblings, the risk rises 40 percent.

So, while everyone might have gotten a good laugh watching "The Nutty Professor" say "that certain people are genetically predisposed to gain weight," the joke may have been on us.

Nobody knows this better than Keisha and Shavon Brown, two sisters who used to be a bad influence on each other.

"When I said I didn't want to work out," says Shavon, "she said she didn't either, and we would stay home."

Lazy lifestyles and super-sized portions are partly to blame. But researchers say it's also because we look at our friends for an idea of normal body size.

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Dr. LaPook Blogs: Is Obesity Contagious?

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"If the social norm is to be at a higher weight, then other people accept their body weight at a higher level," says Dr. Lou Aronne, a specialist on weight loss and obesity.

The study also found the strength of the relationship also matters.

Among casual friends, when one becomes obese, the risk for the other increases 57 percent. For close friends, the risk nearly triples.

The good news is that this research suggests if friends can help you get fat, they should also be able to help you get thin — for example, by sharing time at the gym together instead of sharing a cheeseburger.

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Learn More About The Obesity Study

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The Brown sisters did just that. With the guidance of their life coach, they are eating healthier and working out more.

So far, they have lost 40 pounds combined. So either follow their example, or keep your heavier friends close — but your thinner enemies closer.

[blackbug99]

These people get grants and tons of money for this, BS? Keep your snack cakes close, but keep your healthy meals and exercise closer.

[seven-pesos]

who's the fattest in america?...southerners, of course!

who's the least educated in america? southerners, of course!

where's the most republicans in america? in the south, of course.

where's the most reborns in america?...in the south of course.

where does bush come from? falwell? robertson? delay? foley? vitter? condisleezeball?...all slave state southerners of course.

yep, those southerners are a bunch of bible thumping, war making, ignorant, fat azzed, uneducated, republican snake, bush loving creeps.

makes me sick!

anybody got a confederate flag, so i can wipe my azz?

ha,ha,ha.

nothing good comes out of the south.

[stezzer]

seven-pesos

YAAAAWWN. I bet you're a right laugh on a night out.

Nothing good comes out of your posts.

[hawksprings]

So it's friends and family that makes you fat.
Here all this time I thought it was eating too much and not exercising enough...

Silly me.

...

[nothappyatall]

Dam, look at those chunkers in the photos!! how the hel1 do people GET like that in the first place? they don't notice they are gaining weight?


Prayers don't work
www.evilbible.com

[fldoobyus]

If you hang out with fat people you are statistically more likely to be fat.
If you hang out with people who are not fat you are statistically more likely not to be fat.

This is an ostensibly valid news story on the CBS evening news today (7/25/2007).

Oh puh-lease!

One of the "spokespeople" revealing this astounding medical finding was from UC San Diego. Another was from still another much-vaunted institution of "higher learning." And, while I did not hear anything to indicate that the study(ies) that led to this surprising medical/statistical finding was "federally funded," I'm certain that both institutions do recieve very significant federal funding.

So we've funded (directly or indirectly) another (I'm sure) very expensive study to confirm for us (statistically) something that anyone smarter than a stick already knows. A friend occasionally uses the term "Dumber than a bag of hammers" to describe some things or individuals. Sometimes it is a very apt description.

To her credit, Katy Courick was at least smiling at the silliness of this "news" story.

Please, dear God %u2014 make them stop! Stop the stupid "studies;" stop spending my/our money on such obviously unnecessary and meaningles *** projects; and, PLEASE STOP "REPORTING" SUCH MINDLESS INANITIES ON THE "NEWS!"

[seven-pesos]

everybody knows the south is the fattest region in america.

but that's okay.

jesus is coming soon and will make them thin and good looking again.

so says falwell,
so says swaggart,
so says robertson!

ha,ha,ha.

anybody got a confederate rebel flag so i can wipe my azz?

nothing good comes out of the south.

[bullis9]

duh.....

Make that double duh. Wonder how much money was spent on that "study".

Some of these headlines are so stupid...

[bullis9]

seven-pesos you are pathetic.

[bullis9]

What a study.... if your fat a$$ goes to a fast food joint everyday with the same friend..... duh...

At least Bill Clinton jogged there. Those two women have stomachs and a$$es so big they could step in a pothole and scrape their elbows.

That's our tax dollars. Controlled by silver spoons who are f***ing clueless.

[formrusmcsgt]

I don't know about friends being complicit in making you fat, but I do know that this equation is true:

Super-size your meals and you super-size your a$$.

[formrusmcsgt]

I recently flew to L.A. on business and had the pleasure of sharing half of the seat I bought with a huge, over-grazed heifer.

She apparently felt justified in making me pay for the "extra space" needed to accomodate her 2 or 3 years of stored calories that she hauls around.

Must be her friends' fault.....

[radiob-2009]

Nothing good comes out of your posts.
Posted by Stezzer

Hello Stezzer, called seven-pesos correctly there are quite a few more.

[tnt1954]

why are some 21 yr. olds 6 foot 6" and
others are 4 feet high? genetics. each
according to his ability, each according to
his need. its just that some people need more.
the philosophy of the little red hen or
the mother hen. mother hen is completely
loving and forgiving, and generous to a fault,
southern hospitality. little red hen, won't
give you a bite unless you work 25/8/366 for
the bite. you know the stories. giantism,
dwarfism. what is the scientific literacy
of the american people? they can't be that
stupid. macmoron. joe snidegrass yahoo 360

[seven-pesos]

the south now beats wisconsin as cheese capitol of america.

they're harvesting all that cheese from those fat azzed dixie women.

grab yourself one of those obese southern mamas,

lift up that fat ol' tittie and scrape yourself a handful of that dixie cheese.

hmmmm...foul, but aromatic.

don't forget the saltines!

ha,ha,ha.

war, hate, arrogance, ignorance, phony christian creeps, crooked republican snakes...

nothing good comes out of the south!

[seven-pesos]

yo mama's so fat...

when she hauls azz, she has to make two trips.

ha,ha,ha.

[mrhoppy-2009]

Weight gain in America is being caused by MSG. MSG is placed in food to make you fat so you don't notice that you have the shakes. Well known since about 1960. You would have the shakes from the methanol breakdown of aspartame if it were not for MSG and would catch on that you are being poisoned.

The south is fatter since they have intermarried with african americans. The aboriganol races have not been making and drinking alchohol for 13,000 years and can't break down the two amino acid chain of methanol. It destroys their brain and their body.

MSG is in you food to hide a chemical warfare agent listed with the pentagon in 1967 called aspartame. Simple as that.

Got brown eyes? You are probably much fatter that someone with green or blue eyes.

Families and friends share things like genes and food and now, cause of death.

[earthian-2009]

Good cooking will make you fat.

[cmp271]

Sounds like another excuse to "Supersize Me."

Weight is also something Americans need to deal with and lose it. We are basicly very fat people.
All we eat is fast food and take away, pizza, chinese, all the restaurants available are bad too!!
Guess I too had better get to the gym or start walking more-to the restaurant.

[roseskaps]

Tonight I had the unfortunate experiences of listening to the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. One of the stories ran was about how friends are making friends obese.
This study was done on participants in a Framingham Heart Study back in 1971 and labeled as a multidecade government health-research project. The study subjects whom I assume thought they were listing family members and friends not laying blame on their friends for causing them to be over weight. Just yesterday we were told by the researchers and their studies that our genes, lifestyle and love for the forbidden cheeseburger caused obesity. Nowhere were friends mentioned.
The study goes on to explain that thin people seek out other thin people while fat people pick out fat friends. This is untrue my friends come in all sizes.
This study was very miss leading first because it was done on subjects who had joined a Heart Study not an Obesity study so what quality would their answers hold. Would this study have had the same outcome if they had asked the questions at a club for joggers instead of a Heart Study?
As for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, shame on you and your editors for running a story that was potentially viewed by thousands of teenagers while eating their evening meal. The back lash of this story could be anything from targeting obese teenagers to murder of all overweight citizens. My question for you is why are you making the obese population the next MINORITY?

[usayesterday]

The back lash of this story could be anything from targeting obese teenagers to murder of all overweight citizens. My question for you is why are you making the obese population the next MINORITY?
Posted by roseskaps at 12:26 AM : Jul 26, 2007
............

Well, if someone did want to kill me because I weight 320 lbs., then they'd better be able to move faster than my right hand and spazmic trigger finger firmly attached to my .40cal Beretta!

(My left hand will be holding the slice of pepperoni pizza)!

:-)

[mrhoppy-2009]

Do you really think that the news media is trying to educate you? The New York Times ran this same story titled "Find Yourself Packing It On? Blame Friends"

The entire purpose of this story and the news media is to program you, not educate you.

They program you with divide and conquer. It is military strategy 101. What they most fear is a sudden awakening of the people to the fact that the government has turned on the people and is depopulating the world.

Why? Simple. Every 13,000 years the Earths magnetic pole changes position as our solar system precesses through the galactic oscillation. 51982 years is the length of the Maya calendar and this occurs 4 times in the period or every 13,000 years.

There are 5 places on Earth where you can survive but they are not looking for a lot of company from people that lack personal integrity.

@ USAyesterday - Will you shoot a tidal wave,pathogen or airborn laser when you try to walk a thousand miles to a safety area? Google "Edgar Cayce Earth changes"

[usayesterday]

Posted by MrHoppy at 03:14 AM : Jul 26, 2007
............

Um.... after reading your post, I'm not sure where to begin to respond.

You are either an avid fan of 'Coast-to-Coast with Art Bell', (or perhaps a regular guest on his show)

...or...

A paranoid conspiracy theorist.

Yes, I realize that the corporate media has 'edited' our opinions for years now, but there are enough intelligent people to see through the spin, hype, and bull chit.

Well, at least you're not Lars008, reposting numerous quotes from popular leaders from centuries past in an attempt to make reference to the topic at hand.

[slilley4]

I wish they would have said where Keisha & Shavon were from during the story. They live in Winterville, NC. I work with Keisha and she is awesome! I am so proud of how hard she is working to lose weight!

[kmk0705]

I enjoyed viewing the story featuring Keisha and Shavon Brown. I can truely say since I met Keisha a year ago she has made life changes to lose weight. I am extremely proud of her efforts and I hope other women are inspired by this story.

[processor2]

I wonder how many third world countries
(along with their starving people),
would LOVE to have an obesity problem.

Ours is truly a great nation,
if having too much to eat is a "problem"

...

[greeneyes222]

This is possibly one of the silliest studies I've heard yet. The only "socially contagious" disease here is pop psychology. Sheesh.

[oleander8]

Oh Boy...blame it on the food industry, your thyroid, your low metabolism, your mother for not breastfeeding you - or, hey! how 'bout your friends?

[vdesilva1]

Wow it must be incredibly nice to be unflawed enough to be able to say such negative things about people and turn something like this into racist, bigoted cr*p. So what if these people are overweight? Doesn't mean they are bad people -grow up and stop being such a**es. Maybe you should be posting something on Ann Coulter's site instead of this one.

[weareone2]

If we weren't automatically influenced by other people to follow social norms, we wouldn't be able to live together as a social species.
It's well-known that the kind of body shape that people find attractive depends on the society. Our ancestors perferred people that today we see as "fat".
However, from my experience, one way overweight people could influence their friens to gain weight is by trying to persuade them to eat more than they're hungry for.

[hypnotoad72]

So, fat people hang with fat people and that is why they are fat.

Thin people hang around thin people and that is why they are thin.

Now mix thin and fat together. Who's going to win that battle? ;) Thinnies don't like fatties, and size queens despise the scrawny - look at all those vulgar, superficial personal ads that losers tend to write... "Well built, ___, ___, seeking same only. No ___, ___, ___, ___, ad infinitum"...

Maybe if thin people allowed fat people to tag along, the thinness would rub off onto the fat ones and we all be thin again?

So who wants to go get some ice cream? :-9

BTW: Obesity can be as much inadequate exercise (8~12 hours each day in sedentary, poorly paying jobs...) as it is eating french fries and triple pounder colonic cheeseburgers ever day...

[amelean]

This is so silly. You so called scientist should be spending your money on useful research like cures to cancer instead of dumb *** like this. I am overweight and I think this is a bunch of stupid *** like all of the other dumb studies they do on obesity. I live in the Mississippi Delta and what these people who are conducting the stories fail to realize that eating healthy can be expensive. Everybody that is obese or fat may not be big because they just sit up and unhealthy food all day. I mean where I live buying healthy food is expensive and most people cannot afford it. Then you have parents who leave their children at home because they have to work and finding something quick to eat is easy and less expensive. You guys should think before you waist money on dumb studies like this. Im not trying to condone being obese, but consider all of the factors that cause it instead of saying people are fat because they eat junk food all day. Consider things like genetics.

[jonib4]

This has got to be one of the most irresponsible broadcasts ever. There's so much prejudice against fat people and CBS just has to add more fuel to the fire by saying that your fat friends are making you fat. Don't be passing along your own prejudices to your viewers.