Good Lifestyle

You are lunch with some colleagues and they order a bouquet of fat and fries, but you are trying to make healthy choices. To what extent is it difficult to stay for your goals and not to be influenced by their food behaviors? According to a new study, much stronger than you think.

Search published inNature human behaviorNoted that unhealthy food choices are a major obesity engine and what you eat with can be as important as the food you choose.

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The researchers examined the data of 3 million meetings where employee pairs made food purchases together in 2015 and 2016, encompassing about 6,000 people. Since all the food was purchased at the GENERAL HOSPITAL Massachusetts cafeteria - which uses a health-based labeling system of each article - they were able to determine the similarities and differences in food purchases for each pair. The data revealed that the proportions of unhealthy items purchased have been positively associated among the employees.

They also examined the time spent between purchases between the purchases of a pair and found that two people who bought food in a few minutes from each other were more likely to buy the same type of food as those who did Purchases at 30 minutes away.

The good news is that it is not only unhealthy choices that could influence your own-if you go out with people who share your desire to load on nutritious foods, you are more likely to do it too.

"We tend to reflect the food choices of others around us, especially if we spend a lot of time with them," said the first author of the study, Douglas Levy, Ph.D., researcher at the research center on Mongan Institute's health policy at Massachusetts General Hospital. He adds that this may be the reason why obesity tends to spread through social networks as well as in families.

This effect is so pronounced that some researchers noted that obesity can be "contagious" in social groups. For example, a 2010 adolescent study in the newspaperSocial networks I noticed that friends tend to be very similar in their consumption of high calorie foods, which can encourage obesity in a circle of friends.

The same goes for adults, according to a 2019 study inBMC Public Health, which noted that a healthy diet is also contagious to a certain extent and should not be ignored as a major weight loss factor.

As you go back to a workplace again and you have lunch again with other people, it is helpful to keep in mind that peer pressure could result in some decisions, especially if you are looking for to restore links in this social circle. For more, discoverThe unexpected way of your brain can cause you to eat too much, declares researchAnd do not forget toSubscribe to our newsletterTo get the latest news from the restaurant delivered directly to your inbox.