It’s official: Facebook makes you fat. OK, maybe not exactly, but researchers have determined that your social circles can influence your weight, even if your friends live far away. They’ve even got the numbers figured out: if someone gains 17 pounds, their friends will gain an average of 5 pounds, and if your friend is obese, your odds of being obese go up by 57%. On the other hand, having friends tends to be healthier overall, so researchers aren’t advising that everyone pick out a remote cave.
It’d be interesting if veganism followed a similar pattern, and someone’s odds of going vegan increased with each vegan in their social structure, but I’m finding that it goes the other way around, and I just tend to hang out with more vegan people. Still, it’s interesting to see how our choices can affect those closest to us.
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