How Your Friends Affect Your Weight
Embrace your pals, not their bad habits.
Forget the old saying "You are what you eat." These days, the theory is that you are, instead, what your friends eat. A whole raft of research has looked at the effect that our loved ones' diet and exercise habits have on our own health.
One long-term study of 12,000 adults found that a person's chances of becoming obese increased by about 40 percent if a spouse or sibling became obese—and jumped as high as 170 percent if a close friend became obese. Another study, in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that college students adjusted their food intake based on how much their companions ate. And it's not just adults who are vulnerable. New research says that children are subject to the influence of others as well.
PARADE: 5 ways to control your appetite
In a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers looked at the eating habits of normal-weight and overweight kids aged 9 to 15 when paired with friends or strangers. They found that participants eating with friends ate more than those dining with children they didn't know—and that overweight friends ate more than leaner friends.
"Youths' weight and eating habits are influenced by their friends' and peers' weight and eating habits," says Sarah-Jeanne Salvy, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "With one-third of kids and two-thirds of adults overweight or obese, there are fewer normal-weight people for children to emulate and less peer pressure to not overeat."
PARADE: Fix your worst diet habits
So how can we address the problem? Forcing children to give up friends with unhealthy habits is extreme and may do more harm than good. "It's hard enough being an overweight child and dealing with all of the social pressures that come with that," Salvy says. "Not allowing overweight friends to eat together is not a solution—overweight kids have been found to eat more alone than with peers."
Parents need to help in a friendly way, never nagging or criticizing. Lead by example: Get more active and eat better as a family. Keep wholesome, nutritious foods in the house. Pack healthful lunches and snacks for your children to take to school."
PARADE: 7 ways to get kids to eat healthy
Peer pressure will always be an issue, and no child—or adult, for that matter—wants to be the odd man out. You can't control what others do or eat around your kids, but you can teach your family about good health at home and hope they take that knowledge with them when they leave. Settle for small victories—say, a piece of fruit in the morning with breakfast. If your kids get in the habit of healthy eating, they'll be better equipped to defend themselves against peer pressure. They may even start a more nutritious trend among their friends.
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Courtesy of PARADE
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Now that she has kids of her own, she invested in a Wii Fit (at my uncle's suggestion) and they love it. Her kids will play for hours before they've realized it. As for my cousin, she's taken up the Argentine tango. She's gotten really good and it keeps her in terrific shape. Not only that, it gets her husband exercising, too; he's never had a weight struggle but he was a little out of shape before they started dancing.
It's not just overweight people who can stand to practice good eating and exercise habits; most of my family is thin but we still limit our junk food intake and get plenty of exercise. Seriously, what does it hurt to do these things?!? Even if you aren't prone to gaining weight, you still might save yourself from high blood pressure and diabetes later on down the road.
if they have problems in the genes with weight that is one thing and excusable but most of these women(and men) ate themselves in to this look. People never looked like this 20 years ,1989.
my mother in law came over here from the phillippines 3 years ago and after being here 1-2 days, she made the comment "why are all these people so big?" I didn't mention anything about people being fat at all , no one else did either, we were just showing her the sights and that was her observation strictly out of the blue after 1 day in the u.s.
I am normal size 6'3 guy 195 pounds, but 10 years ago when I met my wife, she cooked for me every nite because she wasn't working and the food was really good and fresh so i ate every nite big and i gained 17 pounds in 3-4 weeks. I didn't like the way i felt , felt like a 17 lb suitcase i was carrying so i lost the 17 lbs in about 2-3 weeks just eating 1200 calories a day and i still ate the chocolate cake or good stuff i liked but like ice cream I savored the spoons of ice cream instead of chugging them down my throat and lost the weight quick and still tasted every goody i wanted.
I know some people can't do that but it can be done and you are still eating the things you like.
Actually, while genetics can indeed play a factor in an overweight person, for the majority of cases it is due to environment and what people ingest. I don't know where you are getting your height and weight information from, but the accepted form for what is considered healthy (for non-body building athletes) is the BMI, not an insurance company and not a magazine. These have been generated by health care professionals. If you are a body builder BMI need not apply to you. Central obesity (fat around the stomach) is what is considered potentially dangerous for health, not fat around the thighs for instance. A size 10 is not necessarily obese depending on your height and athletic training. And to your quote "THAT is the only thing that counts, not what society thinks"--while they may be true for self esteem that is not true for one's health. Obesity has high correlations with: some cancers, Gallbladder Disease, Atherosclerosis, Diabetes, Hypertension, Heart Attack and Strokes. Heart Disease is the number one killer of Americans. 65% of our population is currently overweight or obese. By 2030, it is projected that 85% of our population will be overweight/obese if nothing changes. Obesity related costs also make up $75 billion of our health care spending. Tobacco users also make up $75 billion of our health care spending. For employers, having obese employees can cost them up to $45 billion per year. Through all of this talk of health care reform by Congress, no one has made the case for preventative health care. Preventative health care would help to drive down costs. Think about it--if you made obese people healthier--that $75 billion will no longer be straining health care costs. Research has already shown that preventative services drive down costs: e.g. Oxford Health Plan saved $10 for every $1 spend on nutrition counseling for their patients. Their overall costs fell $66,000 before the intervention to $45,000 post intervention. Preventative health care is useful in driving down costs, and reducing the number of hospital visits, and ailments. However, only 5% of our health care spending is spend on prevention, and only 1% of which is spent on population-based intervention.
P.S. This is what I have learned in my health courses in college thus far. Ask and I'll post the sources :)
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