The Fat Germ: The Thin Friend Solution (Not)
Having struggled with a weight problem my entire life, I paid particular attention to the news that being fat may be a function of a germ-like phenomena passed around my rotund circle of friends. I used to blame my parents, may they rest in peace, for passing on their fat genes to me. Now it turns out my weight struggles aren't all their fault. The fat germ, as I'm calling it, turns out to be spread among friends, according to a just-published study.
The New York Times says:
If the new research is correct, it may say that something in the environment seeded what some call an obesity epidemic, making a few people gain weight. Then social networks let the obesity spread rapidly.
It may also mean that the way to avoid becoming fat is to avoid having fat friends.
Read on to find out which of my friends made me fat.
I, of course, started making a list of all the friends I have had since I was three, trying to ascertain who I could blame for my weight problem, and who in turn who could blame me. My elementary school pals Bobby, Rob, Ray, and Kenny were all thin, but as I haven't seen three of them in more than 40 years, I don't know if they've gotten fat. I have seen Rob, and he's still thin. My high school buddies Michael, David, Alan, and Matt were thin then, and still are. My college buddies Bob and Ron were thin and have put on a few pounds as they've gotten older, but nobody would call them obese. Tom, Tom, Rick, and David, several of the friends I have had since young adulthood, have always been in the "not fat" camp.
So it turns out that I have de facto avoided having fat friends all my life, and yet I continue to struggle with my weight. Damn it, I can't blame my fatness on my friends. I still have my parents to pin the blame on. They're not even around to defend themselves.
It seems to me the most important thing I take away from this new study, which from what I can tell is a classic example of pseudoscientific navel-gazing, is that my fatness is still not my fault. It's my nonexistent circle of rotund friends. The ice cream and potato chips I ate at the office yesterday in the name of Serious Eats research have nothing to do with it. I feel better already.
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9 Comments:
Sooo ... it then follows, that ... not my fault ... therefore, some geneticist will fix it ... meanwhile, I can continue to eat what I want as it's not my problem to worry about anyway ...
I like that! I'd like to give a huge "Thank you!" to all the folks in the Desserts I Don't Like thread who don't like pie. That's all the more for the rest of us who are only waiting to be further genetically manipulated! ;-)
p.s. Not liking pie is fine, and I mean no offense whatsoever. People's tastes in various food items is something to be respected. You're more than welcome to leave me your brussel sprouts, too.
LunaPierCook at 9:59AM on 07/27/07
"may they rest in piece"
sorry for the nagging proofreading comment, but I thought your parents might prefer to be described as resting in "peace" rather than in "piece". The latter kind of implies some sort of explosion or other form of dismemberment.
seyo at 10:18AM on 07/27/07
Thanks, Seyo. Fixed.
Adam Kuban at 10:23AM on 07/27/07
Having read the whole article, and then talked about it with my hubby (who is, indeed, also chubby, as am I), I have to agree that the study's results probably don't mean a whole lot, if only because obesity is too complex to boil down to one cause. To be fair, though, at least the researchers were willing to look at possible behavioral causes of obesity, rather than just writing off fat people as somehow "morally deficient", stupid or not trying hard enough, which is the usual attitude of the medical profession (and society at large).
msmla at 12:00PM on 07/27/07
My friends are mostly slender, too. So there goes that theory. Darn it! Anything was better than blaming it on those surreptitious pints of Ben & Jerry's....
klg19 at 2:50PM on 07/27/07
I'm the token 'really thin girl' in my group of friends, who are in the normal-chubby-large body frame range. Because I eat obscene amounts of food, my friends clam they have to adjust their eating style when out with me just to keep up. The downfall for them is, they get fatter whereas I stay thin (lets just put it down to metabolism) So I can see how the people around you can influence what you eat which, depending on the quantity and type of food, may cause you to gain weight and, to put it bluntly, get fat.
choc_puddin at 5:55PM on 07/27/07
I think if you do have unhealthy eating habits, your friends can either encourage it or dissuade it - and this is a separate issue from their own personal body size. If you have thin friends who eat terribly, it will be easier to fall off the healthy wagon when out with them! Although I also think its pretty easy to hide unhealthy eating habits, eating normally when with others, and chowing down when alone. But I agree - how can obesity be one simple cause and issue?
B
Hand to Mouth
A blog for penniless gourmets
handtomouth at 4:48AM on 07/28/07
I've always been ...well I don't like any of those words, but the artist Rubens would have liked me. My friends & family run the gamet, from one extreme to the other &everything in between. Still I'd like to find someone to blame, so heres to all the "experts" keep tryin' people!
smokingina at 1:54PM on 07/28/07
When I read about the "fat germ," I thought, "Great. Now the skinny meanies might have a legitimate reason to continue their discrimination against those of us not like them. Just what people like us don't need.
As a woman, I am finding it quite interesting that as the general public gets bigger here in the U.S., celebrities get smaller. Size 14 is now average in the REAL world and size 2 is normal in Hollywood. Oh, and there is a new size, 00. Because, ya know, 0 wasn't small enough.
Calichef at 8:22AM on 07/30/07