NPR: Researchers Say Being Obese Is 'Contagious'

Researchers Say Being Obese Is 'Contagious'

It seems each day brings a new report in the battle of the waistline. But this one is a real eye-opener. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that obesity is "contagious." Just one example: If you have a close same-sex friend who becomes obese, there is a 71 percent chance that you'll start packing on the pounds as well.

Using the Framingham Heart Study (which we mentioned Wednesday -- it's a study that has been following thousands of people's health for almost 50 years), researchers concluded that obesity spreads through social ties in subtle ways. Bloomberg reports that it seems to be largely a matter of rationalization.

"What appears to be happening is that a person becoming obese most likely causes a change of norms about what counts as an appropriate body size,'' investigators led by Nicholas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School, wrote in the July 26 edition of the New England Journal. "People come to think that it is okay to be bigger since those around them are bigger, and this sensibility spreads.''

When I mentioned this study to my wife, she commented that it will "make it easier to hate fat people." And sure enough, Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the comprehensive weight control program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, tells the New York Daily News that he has the same concern. "Is a mother going to say, 'I'm not going to let my kid play with an overweight kid because it's going to make my kid overweight'?"

Here's another thing -- if your friends influence your weight, how did that first person in your group get fat? It had to start somewhere. The report really doesn't address this. And there's a certain "well, duh" element here, too. We know that our social networks influence the clothes we buy, the shows we watch, the music we listen to. It makes perfect sense that they would influence our opinions on body image as well.

But there's a silver lining, as Morning Edition reports. If you lose weight, your friends are more likely to do so. I recently lost about 40 pounds ... Anybody want to be my friend?

11:19 AM ET | 07-26-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

In once I know this is true, based on the weight I gained during and after my wife's pregnancy. I'd managed to maintain the same weight for about a decade without any problems but then shot up around 15 pounds. My wife's increased appetite for carbs and fats, not to mention avoiding certain foods she couldn't eat for safety reasons, meant that I was more likely to eat those foods too. That, plus the fact that I've been bad about exercising five times a week like I used to. But I digress. :-)

Sent by andy carvin | 11:26 AM ET | 07-26-2007

Peer pressure related to other self-destructive, self-abusive behaviors would seem to be the root of this issue as well. I believe our challenge lies in helping our children (and adults) learn how to make choices for ourselves, not for others. Personal responsibility, self-respect, and combatting the negative affects of peer pressure seem to me to be the underlying issues that we need to do better on educating our children, and therefore avoiding abusing food, similar to drugs and alcohol.

Sent by Tina Vial | 11:53 AM ET | 07-26-2007

I can't help but notice that all these obesity studies never focus on the REAL cause of Americans' weight gain. If we stripped 99% of the processed foods from the shelves of our supermarkets, I guarantee that the obesity problem would largely disappear. I also predict a sharp drop in hypertension and attention deficit disorder as well. We as a society need to stop placing private profit ahead of public health.

Sent by Robyn Russell | 8:04 PM ET | 07-26-2007

It's not obesity that is contagious... it's inactivity. That''s why overfat people have overfat friends and overfat pets as well. I say overfat because overweight is a meaningless term. This nation will forever be overfat as long as we diet. Dieting makes you FAT. And every doctor who tells their patients to "lose weight" should be ashamed for contributing to the obesity "epidemic."

Sent by Overweight Butnotoverfat | 4:20 PM ET | 08-09-2007

Send a Comment

Comments are reviewed and edited by NPR prior to display. All comments will be read, but not all will be posted.

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
Please send me updates from NPR.	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

Tom Regan

Blogger

About Us

This year's election cycle has been one of the most exciting in memory. At the NPR News Blog we'll do our best to bring you interesting, informative -- and controversial -- stories from our own reporters and bloggers, as well as the rest of the best of the Internet and blogosphere. And we hope you'll let us know what you think as well.

Want to learn more? Be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions and our discussion guidelines.