Study Finds Overweight Youth Are Twice As Likely To Have Overweight Friends

Which is why nutritional child abusing parents (and good parents, too) should just say "NO" to fat kid friends. (at least do something right, bad parents)

"Researchers from the Institute of Prevention Research at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) found in a recent study that overweight youth were twice as likely to have overweight friends.

"Although this link between obesity and social networks was expected, it was surprising how strong the peer effect is and how early in life it starts," says lead author Thomas Valente, Ph.D., professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine."

No, it's not.

Been saying it for years.

It's just that researchers need to keep repeating studies that show problems since no one is willing to fix them.

The mindset is that if we keep highlighting probs, which is newsworthy since the masses love to whine, wring their hands, shrug and engage in the non-Calorie-burning sports of denial, blaming others and self-irresponsibility, we will keep getting the money for the research.

It's a strategy that obviously works.

Add to that the plainly idiotic, touchy-feely, can never succeed conclusions of such research...:

"'The findings certainly raise health concerns because when kids start associating only with others who have a similar weight status it can reinforce the negative behaviors that cause obesity,' he says.

In-school surveys were conducted among 617 students ages 11-13 from the greater Los Angeles area. In addition to finding that overweight adolescents were more likely to have overweight friends than their normal-weight peers, the researchers also found that overweight girls were more likely to name more friends, but less likely to be named as a friend than normal-weight girls.

'Researchers tend to focus mainly on health consequences when talking about weight with adolescents," Valente says. 'But we also need to be sensitive to the reality that there can be a social cost for overweight youth as well.'

Interventions should take these peer constructs into account, he says. For parents and educators, this may mean being conscious of potential social consequences that children may suffer as a result of being overweight; and acknowledge that many of the behaviors which contribute to obesity are social in nature.'"

...and you have a system that promotes repeating the same sh*t studies over and over again.

Why?

Because the problems never get solved.

But, hey.

Maybe they are wrong.

After all, what self-respecting child wouldn't want to have these kids as friends?