I think we’ve all witnessed a parent overfeeding a child but this news is somewhat shocking. According to a recent federally funded study, obesity is “socially contagious”. These are the results:

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.

The study was published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine and funded by the National Institute on Aging.

I guess the term “choose your friends wisely” just got more meaning. Visit Yahoo Health to read the AP article in it’s entirety.


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