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Did you know there’s a strong correlation between our habits, and who we spend time with? Researchers tell us that if we are regularly around someone, we start to become like them. This is usually thought to reflect in people’s opinions and attitudes; having a mutual regard for certain things, like the law or education for example.

However, it now seems that we also have weight challenges in common with those we associate with. The amount we eat is closely related to how much our best friends eat. An interesting study looking at how young people eat found that oversized children eat more when in the company of other oversized friends.

Everyone in the group actually devoured more when they were in the company of friends, regardless of their size. But pairing up overweight friends led to the biggest consumption of all. The study was undertaken by researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo. It highlighted the role friends play in influencing how much youngsters eat.

Candidly it’s no great revelation that many ate more when in the company of friends. That would doubtless be the same if adults had been surveyed. What’s more, as our friends don’t usually challenge what we do, we assume that means they condone our behaviour. Subconsciously we’re placing the permission ball in someone else’s court.

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.

With each of the pairs, the ones who knew each other before the experiment got through more food than the ones who didn’t. However, the heavier friends tucked away the most. And the differences were quite significant.

An average of seven hundred and thirty eight calories was eaten by overweight teens who paired with a friend. But the overweight youngsters with slimmer friends ate nearly three hundred calories less. The slimmer ones ate a fairly stable five hundred calories whatever the size of their friends. This ties in with the commonly held view that in early teens many kids’ decisions to smoke or drink alcohol are strongly influenced by what their friends do.

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.

(C) Scott Edwards. Check out WeightLossDietWar.com for the best diet tips on slimming diet and weight management center.