You've got friends over for dinner or you're out for drinks. When you look around the table, what do you see? The odds suggest a lot of people the same basic size and shape as you.
Time examined a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which suggests that tweens' and teens' eating habits might be related to the eating habits of their friends. The research discovered that overweight children eat more when eating with overweight friends:
Lead researcher and clinical psychologist Sarah-Jeanne Salvy says herThe idea of catching obesity suggests we could start viewing obesity an illness. Instead of seeing obesity as a causal factor for diabetes or heart disease, obesity could be its own category. We already have treatments in the form of lap-band surgery and weight-loss medication. Medicalization also removes some of the personal responsibility issues from the debate.research demonstrates an eye-opening social theory: Obesity can be contagious.
At the same time, this is as much about what is "the norm" in a given
society and what is desirable. Earlier this year, it was reported that
there are more obese people
than those categorized as simply overweight. If we choose to embrace
obesity as a status symbol or even ignore it, incidents of obesity are
no longer a big deal.
Do we unintentionally avoid people with different eating habits? It's hard to bring food to the house of
a friend who is trying to only eat sustainably -- you might feel guilty bringing packaged goods or items that don't come from a
farmer's market. So, eventually you just stop eating together.
When we eat alone and via the drive-thru, our social connections are no longer likely to revolve around food. Maybe everything ultimately comes down to one's behavior at the buffet.
[Image via Flickr: Mike_Fleming]
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