Post: #1

Science confirmed

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201...rch-finds/

Communities with higher rates of obesity are more likely to influence weight gain among individual residents more than other outside factors, according to research that defines the nation’s epidemic as a social contagion.

A research paper by social scientists at the University of Southern California looked at how military families are affected by the communities where they are assigned to live.

U.S. Army members and their families were more likely to become overweight or obese if they lived in counties that had high rates of obesity. In measuring local obesity statistics, researchers found that a difference of even 1 percentage point between counties greatly influenced whether new residents were likely to become overweight.

“Our results suggest that military families assigned to installations in counties with higher obesity rates were more likely to be overweight and/or obese than their counterparts assigned to installations in counties with lower obesity rates,” the authors wrote in their paper, which was published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics.

More than one-third of the U.S. population is obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Being obese and overweight are contributing factors to the leading causes of death and health conditions in the country, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and a number of cancers, among others.

A number of factors can influence the chance for a person to be obese, most predominantly lifestyle choices — poor diet and lack of exercise — and genetic factors. Researchers have established that social and environmental factors have worsened the epidemic. More sedentary lifestyles, large food portions and mass availability of high fat, sodium and carbohydrate diets all contribute to America’s fat problem.

People tend to mirror the behavior of their social circles and people who are overweight with overweight friends and family are more likely to see their weight as normal.

Yet the USC researchers, led by Ashlesha Datar, a professor at the Center for Economic and Social Research, wanted to understand the magnitude of how these social factors influence outsiders.

Military families provided a unique experimental group as their living conditions are determined by outside factors and not their personal choices.

“The reason and duration of exposure is outside of the control of individuals (with rare exceptions), offering a unique opportunity to study whether living in communities with higher rates of obesity can make individuals more likely to become obese themselves,” the authors wrote.

The researchers followed 1,314 adults and 1,111 children ages 12 and 13 at 38 military facilities throughout the country.

Local obesity rates ranged from 21 percent in El Paso County, Colorado, considered low, to 38 percent in Vernon County, Louisiana.

Families that lived in counties that had even a 1 percentage point higher obesity rate than others had a 0.08 increase in body mass index. Likewise, children were 4 percent more likely to be overweight or obese in counties with higher obesity rates.

“Exposure to counties with a higher prevalence of obesity was associated with associated with higher BMI, overweight, and/or obesity in parents and children,” the authors concluded.

“There was no evidence to support self-selection or shared environment as explanations for this association, which may suggest the presence of social contagion in obesity.”


No wonder fat chicks always hang out together

Post: #2

You are the average weight of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

Post: #3

Social factors regarding obesity are a thing - highly successful and wealthy social strata in New York/Hamptons have enormous pressure especially on the women to stay in shape. When everyone is slim, then the one fat girl is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

But there is another factor - wealth or lack thereof increasing obesity rates.

Also - something not spoken about - correlation of IQ and obesity. The dumber you are, the easier it will be to fall prey to advertising and your urges.

Post: #4

Post: #5

Indeed it is. I gained two pounds just from a taxi ride with a fat cabbie.

Post: #6

At first I was skeptical of how they could study this but the use of military families was awesome.

Also important to note that participation in the military limits this effect, as members have been exposed to conditions where everyone's fit prior as a point of comparison

Post: #7

(01-26-2018 08:51 PM)Sonoma Wrote:  Also important to note that participation in the military limits this effect, as members have been exposed to conditions where everyone's fit prior as a point of comparison

Until you encounter the dependapotamus.

Post: #8

No, crazy is contagious. Obesity is just a subcategory of crazy.

Post: #9

So you're saying Kona is fat or big boned?