WORLD / Health
Study: Obesity is 'socially contagious'
(AP)
Updated: 2007-07-26 10:10
Manuel Uribe, tipping the scales at 560 kilograms (1,234 pounds) and seen
here at his home in 2006, will be listed as the world's fattest man by
the Guinness Book of Records, while a loss of 200 kilos (440 pounds) may
make him the man who lost the most weight. [AFP]
If your friends and family get fat, chances are you will too, researchers
report in a startling new study that suggests obesity is "socially
contagious" and can spread easily from person to person.
The large, federally funded study found that to be true even if your
loved ones lived far away. Social ties seemed to play a surprisingly
strong role, even more than genes are known to do.
"We were stunned to find that friends who are hundreds of miles away have
just as much impact on a person's weight status as friends who are right
next door," said co-author James Fowler of the University of California,
San Diego.
The study found a person's chances of becoming obese went up 57 percent
if a friend did, 40 percent if a sibling did and 37 percent if a spouse
did. In the closest friendships, the risk almost tripled.
Researchers think it's more than just people with similar eating and
exercise habits hanging out together. Instead, it may be that having
relatives and friends who become obese changes one's idea of what is an
acceptable weight.
Despite their findings, the researchers said people should not sever
their relationships.
"There is a ton of research that suggest that having more friends makes
you healthier," Fowler said. "So the last thing that you want to do is
get rid of any of your friends."
The study was published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine and
funded by the National Institute on Aging.
Researchers analyzed medical records of people in the Framingham Heart
Study, which has been following the health of residents of that Boston
suburb for more than a half century. They tracked records for relatives
and friends using contact information that participants provided each
time they were examined over a 32-year period.
In all, 12,067 people -- all Framingham participants -- were involved in
the study.
After taking into account natural weight gain and other factors,
researchers found the greatest influence occurred among friends and not
in people sharing the same genes or living in the same household.
Geography and smoking cessation had no effect on obesity risk.
On average, the researchers calculated, when an obese person gained 17
pounds, the corresponding friend put on an extra 5 pounds.
Gender also had a strong influence. In same-sex friendships, a person's
obesity risk increased by 71 percent if a friend gained weight. Between
brothers, the risk was up by 44 percent and 67 percent between sisters.
Indiana University statistician Stan Wasserman said while the study was
clever, it had its limitations because it excluded relationships outside
of the Framingham group.
Obesity is a global public health problem. About 1.5 billion adults
worldwide are overweight, including more than 400 million who are obese.
Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese.
Much of the recent research focus has been on the intense hunt for
obesity genes involved in appetite or calorie burning. Treatment has been
mainly centered on helping individuals curb their weight through better
diet and fitness.
The findings could open a new avenue for treating this worldwide
epidemic. The researchers said it might be helpful to treat obese people
in groups instead of just the individual.
"Because people are interconnected, their health is interconnected," said
lead author Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a Harvard sociologist.
Obesity experts not involved in the research said the results back up
what they have suspected all along �� that people look toward one another
for what is an acceptable weight.
"If you're just a little bit heavy and everyone around you is quite
heavier, you will feel good when you look in a mirror," said Dr. David
Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.
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