KBTV

KBTV::Are Love-Handles Contagious? Part II

Welcome to the second installment in our two-part series: “Obesity: Is it Contagious?” … as we survey new, ground-breaking research … that explores a revolutionary idea … that obesity may not just be genetics, the quality of the food you eat, even whether or not you exercise … but a function of your social network … more precisely … WHO YOU HANG OUT WITH!

Researchers say they got the idea to start looking at how a person’s social environment affected weight gain after seeing all the headlines … in the newspapers, on television … that referred to America’s obesity problem as an “epidemic.” It got them wondering if obesity should be classified differently … instead of a condition … if it should be thought of more as a virus … something that could spread like the flu. This, they thought at the time, would explain the exponential explosion of the obesity statistics in this county.

Americans are getting fatter. In the last 25 years the number of obese people in the U.S. has DOUBLED. One-third of all American adults are overweight … and that number is expected to grow 40 percent in the next eight years. For years public health experts have called obesity an epidemic … proving that America’s weight problem is leading to even greater and more catastrophic health issues -- an increase in diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions.

Let’s take a closer look at a study funded by The National Institute of Aging … because the departure from the norm here … is that researchers did not look at obesity as the problem of the individual – genetics, quality of food, exercise, etc … they instead, looked at obesity as the problem of the collective … the “social network” so to speak. They studied a network of more than 12,000 people over a 32-year period to discover how obesity spread … through this network.

Using data from a decades-old Framingham Heart Study … which colleted information on health, diet, exercise, family ties and friendships of residents in Framingham, Massachusetts … They judged whether a person was obese measuring his or her body mass index … the ratio of a person’s height to weight. A person with a score of 30 is considered to be obese. The group also took a close look at other factors that influence weight … such as gender, socioeconomic status, location and smoking habits. Here’s the kicker … which makes this research … just published in the New England Journal of Medicine …. and I quote from experts here … “Revolutionary” … because they found that the influence of friends was AS POWERFUL as genetics in determining weight gain.

Yikes. When your parents told you be careful who you hang out with, they were most likely talking about cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and crime. Do you think they ever thought about obesity?

posted by rjoyner @ 7:38 PM