On Obesity, Peer Pressure, and Society

We all tend to be as best as we can in all the domains. We want to be smart, we want to have charisma, and we want to have a great body.

Achieving perfection is impossible, but there is nothing wrong with trying to be best at something. The human body is very interesting, or the conception about it is. The bodies which we admire today might not be something desirable in the future. Who does not want to have six-pack abs, and a body with as less fat as possible? It seems that these types of bodies are getting rarer and rarer, as the obesity rates are constantly growing. It has recently been discovered that there are many factors which can influence obesity, and your social contacts is one of them. Yes, your friends can make you fat, and in the same time you can make them fat as well. It has been discovered that we as individuals tend to imitate the ones from our group. It is said that the behaviors are contagious. For example if you are in a group, and all of you decide to start jogging, it is very likely that you will stick to the habit. On the other hand, if you are the only one who decides to do it, then it is very likely that you will give up because of your friends. It is very likely that you will be pressured to do it, either to spend more time with them, or to stop them from giving you a hard time about it.

It has been discovered that the overweight and obese people with ages between 18 and 25 were more likely to have overweight friends. Once again, the same principle applies. If you and your friends start to put on weight, it is very likely that all of you will become fat. If you decide to eat junk food, it is very likely that you will do it because your friends do it. You will not get too concerned with your weight, because your friends have the same weight as you do. It has been discovered that your friends can influence you in two ways: in a bad or in a good way. It is said that if you spend your time with successful people, it is very likely that you will become successful as well. Yes, your friends can influence you in a positive manner as well, and if all of you would decide to lose weight at the same time, you will be more successful than if only one of you would try to do it. The problem is that less and less people are interested in their health these days, and it is more likely that they will affect you in a negative manner, and that you will gain pounds instead of losing them. The researchers have discovered that if one of your close friends becomes obese, you have 57 percent chances of becoming obese as well.  Even if a friend of a friend becomes obese, you have 20 percent chances of becoming obese.

Tricia Leahey conducted an experiment to analyze the situation even more thoroughly. She had 288 volunteers, with ages ranging from 18 to 25. 1137 one of them were overweight, while 151 of them were overweight. She asked them various questions about their weight, height, and so on, and she asked the overweight people about the weight and the height of their friends and loved ones as well. She discovered the fact that the majority of these teens had both friends and partners that were overweight just like they were.

You see, the mind is a very interesting “thing”. Many times it works against you, as it tries to sabotage you. “Do not approach that girl, because she will reject you, everyone will see it, and they will make fun on you, ha-ha, and so on.” In this case it would be “Go on, eat what you want, look at X or Y, they are fat, and they are not bothered by it.” The problem is even bigger in the case of the young people, as they are less likely to be concerned about their health and about their weight. They tend to imitate their peers even more than the adults do. They start to drink because it is cool, they smoke because it is cool, and they eat junk food because everyone else is doing it. The first two are more serious than the eating, but in time eating can become a very serious health issue. You see, if one would be in a group of slim peoples, he would have a different opinion about his weight. He would not gain weight because he would be the only one to do so. It has also been discovered that the majority of the overweight or obese people with ages between 18 and 25 have an overweight partner. A news study has revealed the fact that the overweight people will have higher chances of finding an overweight partner, than they did in the past. The scientists have discovered the fact that we tend to search for partners who have similar body features with us. The process is called assortative mating, and it is more common than you might think.

It is most likely that we will look for a partner that belongs to the same race, social class, and who has a similar height to ours. Of course, there are cases when the partners are different, when it comes to the race, social class and in height, or weight. There are cases when you will see a great looking woman with a not so good looking man, or vice-versa. As I said, we tend to be influenced by the people around us, and we tend to influence them. When it comes to an intimate partner, the influence is even greater, as it has been discovered that if our partners get fat, there are 70 percent chances for us to become fat as well. This idea is not new, as it has been discovered for a very long time now that the partners tend to have very close BMIs. The scientists believe that the reasons why the couples tend to have the same body fat are because they engage in the same types of activities. It is less likely that one of them will start to work-out if the other one does not do it. However, if he/she starts to work out, then it is likely that the partner will start to work out as well. It has also been discovered that the activities are the ones which help the overweight people find partners, well just like in the case of all the people. As I said, we can influence the other people when it comes to their weight. It seems that our influence is not related just to the people. It has been discovered that our pets continue to get fatter because of us. 50 percent of the cats and dogs from the United States of America are overweight, and they are in serious health conditions.

It seems that the reasons why we do it is because we find them to be cuter it they are chubbier. We love sugar, and many things which we eat contain sugar and other unnecessary additives. Well, the foods which we give to our pets started to contain them as well, and as a result the pets become fatter. The problem is that the pets do not need the sugar from their foods. Would they eat sugar in the wild? Would they eat chocolate or peanut butter in the wild? No, they would not, and they would not die if they would not do it. We often give our pets food which they do not need without realizing that they would not have eaten that type of food in the wild in the first place. We made and make them addicted to all of these things, and their health suffers because of it. We tend to consider the overweight animals as being normal, because we have used to them in this manner. The same thing will happen to the humans. It is believed that in the future, in 100 years or so, there would be less slim people because being thin would be considered something strange.

You would think that this problem is just for the “common” people, but it isn’t. The public people, the actors more precisely become fatter and fatter as well. Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, John Travolta,  men who were once considered to be the best looking in the world have put on a very large amount of body weight. Of course, they have a certain age, but the actors from the past who had the same ages as they do now, were able to maintain their slim figures. The researchers believe that we, the individuals from society are the ones to blame, as we have become more tolerant to the extra large bodies. They stated that the actors do not care too much about their body weight because they know that they will be accepted even if they are heavier than they were ten years ago. The actors are not the only ones getting fat; the actresses are getting fat as well. There are some people who believe that being fat is portrayed in a negative manner, and they say that the risks associated with it are not actually real. They say that being fat is not actually that hazardous when it comes to one’s health. Paul Campos is one of the people who have stated that the body weight is not very to the health of the individual.

He said that the main reason why so many believe that being fat is such a bad thing, is because of the media, who listens to the junk science and to the people who have the overweight individuals. He said that most of the things which are spread in the media are actually exaggerated, but he admits that they have a certain level of truth in them. The media stated that 400,000 people die each year in the United States of America alone because of the obesity, but the numbers are way lower than that. It seems that the media loves these sorts of things, and it loves to exaggerate things, especially when it comes to health-related issues. They did the same with lots of diseases, even with the ones that did not represent a serious threat for the human health. Campos said that the media is to blame because of the many misconceptions regarding some if the illnesses and the diseases. They exaggerate things, and when they are contested, the humans tend to believe that those illnesses are not dangerous, and they tend to neglect them. Campos stated that America is a country full of dieters, or at least in the opinion of the media.

People from that country are concerned about their body weight, but he said that the majority of people do not diet. Some of them have never dieted in their life. He stated that the media comes with all sorts of wonder diets and that there are many people who are willing to follow them. A survey from 2002 revealed the fact that one in 5 women has stated that her main priority is to lose weight; while the others have stated that they do not worry too much about how much they weigh. Campos believes that many American have become fat because they have followed the advices of their doctors who have stated that people should eat less and exercise more. Many people have disagreed with Campos, as they stated that if people would have done such a thing then they would not have gained weight. Instead of eating less and exercising more, people eat poorly and barely exercise at all. They said that Campos omitted this fact on numerous occasions, and this is one of the reasons why his theories are not valid. Campos believes that many Americans are dieting without success. He also stated that many American women have a very low self-esteem, and once again the media is to blame for this, as it is the one which presents very skinny bodies in their commercials and so on. Campos said that the majority of the Americans are not satisfied with their own bodies, but a survey conducted by USA Weekend revealed the fact 91 percent of the ones who participated to the survey were satisfied with the way in which they looked.

The British Medical Association also revealed the fact that 88 percent of the women who participated to the survey had a good opinion about their bodies. Only 12 percent stated that they do not feel too great about the way in which they look. His critics have also stated that there are just as much overweight people in the media, as there are thin ones. There are many TV show hosts and movie stars who are overweight and who are very successful.  The ones who criticized Campos stated that there are other reasons why people become fat, and it is not because of the media. They said that there are many things which can cause one to gain weight, and in many of the cases these things are common. Coffee for example is one of the reasons why people become fat. The problem is that they do not drink it at home, but they drink it from various restaurants and places where it contains lots of extra sugar. The well known Frappuccino from Starbucks has 500 calories, and that is only one cup. There might be people who drink two, three or even more cups of those per day. Another reason why people become fat is because they want to save money.

The idea sounds stupid, but it is actually true. In order to save money, they buy cheaper stuffs, including the food. Usually the cheap food is the one which has different additives and different calories added to it. It is way cheaper to buy a hamburger or two than it is to buy chicken breast and cook it at home. Instead of going to the restaurant to eat, people buy in bulk things such as pretzels, chips, and so on. These small changes can make a huge difference, but unfortunately not too many people know about them. The TV and the computer can also make you put on pounds, but not in the way in which Campos stated. When we watch TV it is more likely that we would like to munch on something. We would eat pretzels, popcorn. You can not watch a movie without eating, right? Since we tend to eat while we watch TV or surf on the internet, it is only natural to gain weight. These are just some of the theories about obesity and weight gain.