fatness is contagious

[traz]

Not to mention it's easier for far people to be accepted by other fat people and other such factors

[MrWookie]

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like attracts like

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They tried to eliminate this by excluding people from the study where both friends started out fat.

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Even so, they'll start to influence each other. If you're good friends with someone who sits around eating pizza all day, there's a damn good chance you're gonna end up sitting around eating pizza all day.

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This was basically the point of the study's results. Also, if you have fat friends, it adjusts your social norms. When you have fat friends, you begin assume everyone is fat, so it's not so bad to be fat yourself.

[TxSteve]

i think having peers who are fat makes it seem more acceptable

just like i think having peers who do drugs makes it seem more acceptable to do drugs (personal experience)

i think the same could be said about most any activity

nailing chicks in one night stands
committing crime
regularly getting in bar fights
working out
studying

etc
etc

[guids]

You are judged by the company you keep.



300k grant to do a study on it now pls.

[secretprankster]

Dids pls offer input.

[Sponger.]

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any truth to this? is it just a byproduct of the fact that fat people are more likely to congregate among themselves to begin with because they have similar fat lifestyles?

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From the article you linked...

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The 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.

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[solids]

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being a douchebag?

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[Anacardo]

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Instead, it may be that having relatives and friends who become obese changes one's idea of what is an acceptable weight.

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This is absolutely true. As a child, hanging out with my mother's side of the family, I thought that growing a potbelly was a manly, coming-of-age thing to do, like needing to shave.

[GiantWalleye]

[ QUOTE ]
i think having peers who are fat makes it seem more acceptable

just like i think having peers who do drugs makes it seem more acceptable to do drugs (personal experience)

i think the same could be said about most any activity

nailing chicks in one night stands
committing crime
regularly getting in bar fights
working out
studying

etc
etc

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QFT

[Blarg]

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i just saw a blurb on cnn about fat people being contagious.

apparently 57% more likely if good friends with a fat person.

any truth to this? is it just a byproduct of the fact that fat people are more likely to congregate among themselves to begin with because they have similar fat lifestyles?

here is the first story i found while googling

what other personality or lifestyle traits would translate in the same manner, assuming this research is relatively correct?

being a douchebag? being funny? being intelligent?

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Completely true on teh fatness. I would blame it on modeling.

Too many examples that can be skipped: If around douchebags a lot, douchebaggy behavior seems normal. If around people who cuss a lot, you'll probably find yourself cussing a lot too. If you are around people who are quick-witted, you feel stupid if you don't learn to catch up to speed, and you're likely to learn how to be a more quick-witted speaker yourself. If you are around athletic people and they play basketball all the time and invite you, you're likely to work out more and practice more so you can keep up with the gang and their expectations. Etc.

If your mom and friends and sisters are fat, the chances are you will be fat too because it will seem unremarkable to be fat and carry a low social cost. Perversely, it can even become a source of approval. I've regularly seen all the fat chicks in an office(read, almost all chicks in my office are fat) stop by a less than fat new girl's desk constantly to ply her with cookies and cake and candies. After they remorselessly fatten her up, she's no longer a threat to them and she's "in."