Can Your Friends Make You Fat?

There have been several studies lately that have examined the impact of social ties on physical health.  The results were interesting.  If you have friends that are out of shape and overweight, you are 20% to 50% more likely to be overweight and out of shape yourself.  Think about that for a moment.  If you have friends that are unhealthy, you have a significantly higher chance to be unhealthy yourself.  That brings up two follow up questions.  First, why does this relationship exist, and second, what can you do about it?

Why Do Fat People Have Fat Friends?

First, why is it that people who are overweight tend to have friends who are overweight?  The studies suggest two possible reasons:

Activity and eating Habits are shared in a social circle - This means that a group of friends is likely to have the same habits, and that includes eating and exercise.  If your friends enjoy going out to fast food every day, you’re likely to do the same because you like spending time with them.  If your friends enjoy playing soccer every day, you’re likely to do the same.  In other words, you spend time with your friends because you enjoy doing so.  The more time you spend with them, the more likely you are to eat the same things and have the same level of physical activity.

Perception of health issues - This one is a bit more complex.  The studies showed that if you have friends who are overweight and out of shape, you are more likely to see this as normal and less likely to view it as something that needs fixing.  That is, if I spend all my time with people who are overweight, then I will tend to see overweight people as normal.  I will therefore be unlikely to think of losing weight as a necessary goal.

How Do We Fix This?

Communication - First of all, communicate with your friends.  If you do have some health goals in mind, make sure they’re aware of them.  You don’t need to be offensive about it and rub it in their faces that you’re doing something about your health while they’re not, that’s a good way to lose friends.  Just make sure they know your preferences.  Tell them when you go to the gym so they don’t plan activities around those times.  Tell them about the restaurants you don’t want to go to.  I’ve personally found my friends to be extremely reasonable about this.  Even though my health and eating habits are now very different from theirs, they’ve never had an issue with it and are always willing to find a restaurant we will all enjoy.

Exercise on a regular schedule - This is a key point.  Set aside time for your exercise, put it on your schedule and stick to it.  If your friends know they you’re always unavailable on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 5 and 6pm, they’re going to be fine.  Everyone has schedules that they stick to and good friends understand that.  However, if you don’t have a regular schedule which your friends know about, they’re going to ask you to go to various events that might prevent you from working out.  That means temptation.  Do you really want to go to the gym or do you want to go out to that movie with your friends?  Either way you’ve lost because you’re either disappointing your friends or you’re missing out on your workout.  So make your exercise schedule, let your friends know about it and then stick to it.  Your social life will thank you.

Stick to your plan - So you’re at the restaurant and your friends have all ordered the milk shakes and those things really look tasty.  Are you going to stick to your healthy sandwich and water?  It’s a bit hard to do when everyone around you sure does seem to be enjoying themselves.  It’s hard, but you’re going to need to stick to your plan.  You know why you’re doing this and you know being healthy is an important goal.  Remind yourself of that and stick to your sandwich and water.  After all, having fun with your friends means spending time with them, it doesn’t mean eating the same things they’re eating.

Recruit them - You know the old saying, “if you can’t beat them, have them join you.”  Well, I guess that’s not quite the old saying but I like this version better.  How about asking some of your friends if they want to work out with you?  How about taking an active role in picking out restaurants to dine at and selecting something healthy?  How about picking an activity that’s not sitting around watching the game on TV and involves a bit more physical activity?  You don’t have to ask your friends to run a marathon with you, it could be something as simple as going to the park and tossing the ball around.

Summary

Your friends influence your life, no question about that.  Make sure they don’t influence you into something unhealthy or even better, use that influence as support in your quest for better health.