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Obesity is contagious
A
new recent study conducted and published in the New England Journal of
Medicine suggests that when a person gains weight, their obesity can
spread to close friends.
The research, involving a detailed analysis of more than 12,000 people,
took place over 32 years, from 1971 to 2003. They kept track of
social networks and made records of what each person weighed at various
times over those years.
They found that having an obese friend increased one's chances of
becoming overweight by 57 percent. The obesity of neighbors' had
no effect, and family members had less influence than friends.
Friends did not need to be in close proximity for the effect to
occur. In addition, the greatest risk came between mutual close
friends. In such an extended network, the chance of becoming
obese increased to 171 percent.
Dr. Nicholas Christakis, Professor of Medical Sociology at Harvard
Medical School, was a principal researcher in the study. He
suggests that when a friend becomes overweight, we may start to view
obesity in a less negative way.
"You change your idea of what is an acceptable body type by looking at the people around you," Christakis said.
It may help to explain why obesity is on the increase, particularly in
the USA: people who gain weight are likely to influence their friends
to gain weight as well.
Christakis claims that the study is important because of its wide
scope. Rather than providing a simple analysis of one person's
friends and acquaintances, this research looked at an entire social
network as a single entity, so researchers could see how individuals in
a person's extended social group could have an influence on their
weight gain.
The effects are highlighting the importance of a sort of spreading
process, some kind of a social contagion process, that spreads its way
through the network, said Christakis.
Investigators are careful to point out that in addition to social
networks, there is a strong genetic component involved in obesity.
Other studies have shown that weight ranges are hereditary, spanning
around 30 pounds for each person. But environment is the factor
accounting for where an individual falls within that range. As
obesity increases, more and more people are edging towards the top end
of their genetically determined weight range.
The new research appears to provide the answer: social networks are in an important factor in the rapid spread of obesity.
Investigators in the study are not suggesting that you should drop your
fat friends. Friends are essential for our overall health.
Christakis and his colleague James Fowler suggest making friends with a
thin person too, so that their behaviors can influence both yourself
and your obese friend.
Facts
People who gain weight are likely to influence their friends to gain weight as well
Researchers were surprised by the findings, but Christakis was more surprised that he could do the study at all.
The
data necessary for the study was found by chance in a study of heart
disease. Since this study contained details of each participant's
address, family members and close friends, Christakis and his
colleagues were able to reconstruct the social network of each
participant and follow it for over 3 decades.
Many obesity
specialists and social scientists say the findings can shed new light
on how and why obesity has increased so much and so quickly.
Dr. Rudolph Leibel from Columbia University of New York said that it
is an extraordinarily subtle, sophisticated way of getting a handle
on various aspects of the environment that are not normally considered by most of us.
Dr.
Richard Suzman, of the U.S. National Institute on Aging, which funded
the study, heralds it as "one of the most exciting studies to come out
of medical sociology in decades."
Dr. Stephen O'Rahilly, at
the University of Cambridge in England, suggests caution. He points out
that the uniqueness of the study's data may make it hard to replicate.
It would be difficult to once again study an extended social network
over such a long period of time.
"When you come into things that inherently looks a bit implausible, you'll raise the bar of standards for proof," said O'Rahilly. "Good science is all about replication, but it is hard to see how science will ever replicate this."
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