Are You Influenced By Your Fat Friends? :

"You are what you and your friends eat."

This is according the lead author (emphasis added) of some absolutely fascinating research looking into the social networks of those who are obese -- and how the interesting correlations that exist.

Essentially - if your friend becomes obese - there is a high chance that you will also become obese. The closer the friendship, the higher the chance.

The entire study can be seen (free) here . Time magazine also have a good summary (along with a short video displaying the "clustering" affect.

Does Geographic Distance Have an Impact? No.
"...friends who lived a 5-hour drive apart and saw each other infrequently were just as influenced by each other's weight gains as those who lived close enough to share weekly take-out meals or pick-up basketball games."

Spouses and Siblings?
Having an obese spouse or sibling presents a much smaller risk of gaining weight.

It's all to do with Mutual Friendship
Apparently, having fat friends makes being fat more acceptable.

I wonder about the opposite affect. If you and your best friend are overweight - how do you feel when s/he decides that they are going to "get slim"?

Another recent small piece of research showed that girls who spent too much talking about their problems with friends led to an increase of depression and anxiety!

Do your friends motivate you towards better things - or do you hold pity parties instead?

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