Once again those wacky scientists!
The quite prestigious New England Journal of Medicine is reporting that well, basically, you can catch fat.
WTF? Is someone twisting arms to get their friends to eat?
The answer, the researchers report, was that people were most likely to become obese when a friend became obese. That increased a person’s chances of becoming obese by 57 percent. There was no effect when a neighbor gained or lost weight, however, and family members had less influence than friends.
It did not even matter if the friend was hundreds of miles away, the influence remained. And the greatest influence of all was between close mutual friends. There, if one became obese, the other had a 171 percent increased chance of becoming obese, too.
And not only that, but there’s more nuggets:
“You change your idea of what is an acceptable body type by looking at the people around you,” Dr. Christakis said.
And that deserves a SECOND WTF? So if your wife or girlfriend starts pigging out and gains 100 pounds, you are suddenly going to like it and do the same yourself?
Hmmmm…wacky scientists!
(via Guy Caves)