Obesity that spreads

A new study says that a person’s bodyweight may be affected by the type of friends they made.
For example, if you always hang out with plump people, eventually you will become plump as well.
According to researchers, this can be coincidental or it has a direct relation with the type of friends one makes.

So, can obesity really be transmitted like a disease?
Apparently, another study also says that one’s possibility of getting fat increases to 57% if a friend becomes fat.
Although gene is said to be the factor to influence a person’s body size, friend is proved to be more influential than genes in weight gain.

Researchers have conducted experiment to observe the changes in body weight of teenagers for certain periods. Results showed that most normal teens who often hang out with obese friends of the same height gain weight over the observation period.

This actually reminds me of the Law of Natural Selection. Natural Selection says that organisms favour characteristics that are vital to survive. Individuals that are more advantageous are more likely to produce more offspring and live longer. Besides, characteristics that help to survive will be selected for and individuals that are less adaptive will be selected against.

Since people who hang out with obese people normally get fat, so does that say that most people are unaware of going for FAT characteristic and unconsciously going against THIN characteristic? Or it’s all just because people’s temptation to eat unstoppably that causes more and more people to become obese? As far as I know there is only this country, Mauritania in northwest Africa who thinks fat women are beautiful and thin women are disgusting. Therefore, FAT is selected for and THIN is selected against. As a result, you could hardly find THIN species there.

Whatever it is, from my layman’s point of view, I agree with the theory about influence of friends in weight gain. From my personal experience, gaining weight is not something hard to achieve and friends definitely play an important role in this context.

For example, let’s say one night you go to a mamak which is well-known of its Maggie Goreng Special with a group of friends. Everyone of your friend orders a plate of Maggie Goreng Special. You indecisively trying to resist the temptation not to order knowing that the calories will stay in your stomach for a long long period as you’re the type of person who only exercises once or twice a year and you’re also conscious that carbohydrates will be digested into glucose and excess glucose will be converted into glycerol and in the end forms a fatty layer which is twice harder to be broken down. However, under the pressure and influence of your friends, you order a plate of Maggie Goreng Ayam Special tambah pedas tambah telur timun lebih sayur tak mau.

Over a certain period, if you and your friends continuously do the same thing, share the same interest, eat at the same place, exercise equally less, you all may just end up one size.

However, during this very moment where Influenza A, A(H1N1) is spread uncontrollably worldwide, take note that obesity falls into the high risk group besides infants, pregnant women and those who suffer health problems.

Eat and exercise regularly at the same time be decisive so that you don’t easily influenced by your friends to prevent “Obese Transmitted Disease”.

Prevention is better than cure