Female Fitness Blog

Is Weight Gain Contagious?

Submitted by Fit and Female Blog

Sure you know you can catch colds from other people…but what about weight gain?

The Framingham Heart Study has been analyzing the long-term affects and health consequences of lifestyle choices since 1971 .  The study now has more than 12,000 participants (more than double the initial size), including the children and grandchildren of the original participants.  It is a landmark project which has provided invaluable information about the association between certain choices and maintaining health — or developing disease.

One recent finding from the study that I found amazing….was that obesity in one’s social network increased the likelihood of a person being obese.  The effect was strongest in same-sex friendships (for both genders), but there was also an effect with opposite-gender friendships (and much less surprisingly, spouses)

Why would this be?  Researchers theorized that when one’s friends are obese it is more socially accepted as the norm for others within that network to be obese, too.  Even more interestingly, the relationship had much more to do with the “closeness” of the friendship, than it did to physical proximity with some of these people living hundreds of miles apart from one another.  Additionally, neighbors who were not friends, did not influence whether a person was overweight.   And the relationship was the strongest in situations where both people named each other specifically as being good friends.

So the next time you’re frustrated about your weight, feel free to call up your friends and yell at them (it’s their fault, after all)… or better yet –convince them meet you for a long walk.

Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women

Leave a Reply