Our friendships can have quite an influence on how we live our lives. There’s a tangible link between the way we behave and the men and women we have friendships with. And yet we’re likely to have presumed this commonality concerned our likes and dislikes – for example we enjoy the same musical tastes as our friends, or hold similar political views.

Lately though, studies are claiming that we will have more tendency to be overweight if we hang around with others who are overweight. According to a recent news article, we have a tendency to consume more when eating with heavier people who we know well. A US research team looked at kids eating habits. They found that the heavier ones ate more when they were with their heavier pals than when they were with their slimmer friends.

It appeared in fact that everyone in the study got through more food when with friends than with strangers. But it was when the heavier friends teamed up that the most calories were consumed. The research was featured in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It illustrated the part friends play in the actions of each other.

Frankly, having more relaxed habits when with friends is not a big surprise. Adults would no doubt have demonstrated the same characteristics. It’s possible however that in addition, we assume friends will give their consent. We’re inclined to unconsciously monitor our behaviour in relation to their reaction to it.

The study took 65 young people of mixed weights and observed them for 45 minutes. There were pairs of friends, and pairs of strangers. They were given games to entertain themselves, along with snack food, fruit and veg.

The familiar couples put away more food than the unfamiliar ones. But overweight friends ate the most of all. Below is an illustration of what was consumed.

The overweight pals who were paired up ate 738 calories each on average. And yet 300 cals less were consumed by the larger guys when they teamed up with a pal of normal weight. Interestingly the normal weight guys stabilized at around 500 cals irrespective of what their pal’s weight was. Comparable evidence of strong influence from friends is evident in attitudes to alcohol consumption by teens.

A child’s social network then is significant in determining their eating habits. What this means is kids can be influenced to eat less as well as more. Hence the necessity to educate the young.

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