Our friends, families and social networks influence our attitudes and acceptance of over weight and obesity. Friends can also motivate each other to fitness and health.

A new study shows that social networks influence weight and obesity. The study found that people were more likely to be overweight if their social groups were. Friends influence eachother's diet and exercise patterns.

It makes sense that people who spend time together would have similar body sizes.. Social groups tend to eat together, have similar lifestyle habits, similar activity levels and a tolerance for each others size

Consider the HBO Cable Television series, "The Sopranos". Many scenes show portly Tony Soprano eating with his portly friends and associates. Tony Soprano spent a lot of time eating and doing business over the lunch or dinner table, or eating big sandwiches in the back room, on the HBO cable TV series. Maybe that is an extreme example, but it is true that breaking bread together is an important part of social networking.

On the other hand, having friends that eat sparingly and exercise frequently can also influence us to similar behaviors. Friends that exercise tend to encourage their social group to exercise along with them. Healthy eating habits can also be contagious.

There is new research that indicates that obesity can be contagious. The The England Journal of Medicine has published a study with findings that social networks can cause obesity.

The new data shows that obesity can be "socially contagious", meaning that people tend to eat as their friends and family do. When friends and family become obese, their companions tend to follow suit. Researchers found that a person had a increased chance of becoming obese if their social network was obese. The risk increased 57% if a friend was obese, 40% if a sibling was obese and 37% if a spouse was obese.

The study results were explained by researchers Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD and James Fowler, PhD in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Not only do friends influence each other to become obese, having more that one obese friend increases the risk even more.

Obesity data was gathered over a period of 32 years on over 12,000 people who participated in the Framingham Heart Study. The participants were weighed every few years, at their checkups. At their checkups, the participants named friends and family that the Framingham Heart Study could contact. Researchers computerized the contact information and mapped the social network of each participant. Researcher than traced trends of obesity through clusters of social networks of the participant's.

According to the findings of the study, family and friends influenced the participant's chances of obesity. Immediate neighbors did not affect obesity rates, suggesting that findings were not related to social class.

Researchers studied many factors, including gender, natural weight gain, and the tendency of people to associate with similar people.

Obesity is a growing health problem. The prevalence of obesity has increased over recent years from 23% to 31%. While the study did not offer conclusions as the the reason for the social phenomena of social networks influence on weigh gain, there are some possible explanations. Possible explanations include inactivity in social networks, food consumption in a group, influence on eating habits, adoption of similar exercise patterns, adoption of lifestyle behaviors such as smoking and tolerance for obesity

The data did not show how obesity spreads through social networks, but social norms do appear to play a role. The influence appears to be stronger among same sex pairs, meaning that same sex friends were more likely to influence each other than spouses.

While friends appeared to influence each other to obesity, the opposite was also true. Researchers found that when a friend loses weight that their social network may follow suit.

People can use this information to be successful in their efforts to reach normal weight.

Friends, siblings and spouses who agree to convert to healthy lifestyle habits and weight loss diets increase the chance of weight loss success for all concerned.

Forming bonds with people who of normal weight may help an obese person get a different perspective on weight loss and encourage them to success. A gym or health club with normal sized people may provide the healthy motivation a person needs to reach normal weight.

This advice is not meant to encourage dropping overweight friends. Friends who will commit to losing weight together can encourage each other along in healthy habits. Discover new eating patterns, diets and exercise habits with a friend. Commit to a daily schedule of walking or join a gym or health club together. If an overweight friend refuses to go along, joining a health club is an excellent way to find normal sized role models.

Resources:

New England Journal of Medicine (content.nejm.org)

webmd.com