A recent New England Journal of Medicine study declared that people can actually “catch” obesity from their close friends!! When researchers followed 12,067 people over 32 years, they concluded that those of us with very close friends who are obese have a 171% chance of becoming obese too. 
But do not worry if you have friends who love food or who eat a lot! Here is a good news: it may also work in reverse. Hang out with thin people and you might loose weight. So, you just need to increase your friend circle and get some skinny friends in your group too. This way you will be benefiting yourself as well your friends who can not control their appetite. Of course, there will always be a risk of thin people getting influenced the other way.
The theory goes like this: you are influenced by your friends, and if they overeat, you may unwittingly follow their lead. It actually seems quite true and you can judge it yourself with your own friends or the friends of your friends too.
Even geographical distance is no barrier, which means you can catch obesity over the phone. Surprisingly, spouses have less sway over the belly than close friends of the same gender.
But do not worry if you have friends who love food or who eat a lot! Here is a good news: it may also work in reverse. Hang out with thin people and you might loose weight. So, you just need to increase your friend circle and get some skinny friends in your group too. This way you will be benefiting yourself as well your friends who can not control their appetite. Of course, there will always be a risk of thin people getting influenced the other way.
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