The Fat Flu, Are Your Friends and Co-Workers Making You Overweight

A recent study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine reportedly stated that obesity is like a disease and can spread from one person to another.

Unfortunately this epidemic is something that I have some first hand knowledge about. When a person is overweight such as myself and your around others that are overweight you do tend to gain more weight. Unfortunately the weight spreads much like the stomach virus and before long everyone has it.

However sometimes your friends don't even have to be overweight, sometimes an overweight person may be basically feed and fatten you, much like a pig going to slaughter. Friends and coworkers have a tendency to bring in sweets and desserts, thereby encouraging you to partake even when you to try to abstain. I doubt they really mean any harm, they probably just don't want to be mean and leave you out of what they brought for everyone.

Even people you may not have close by can contribute to your weight problem because they encourage you to not go without eating or tell you that you are really not that overweight. All of which would be fine if they really could see you, however most of the time they can't and therefore they shouldn't have a voice in whether you need to eat or definitely should go without.

The "fat flu" as it is being referred to basically describes the epidemic of fat that overweight Americans are spreading. While the term seems quite humorous, it does pack a hint of truth. For many Americans such as myself who have packed on a few pounds over the years it is a bit overwhelming to be around people who seemingly for no good reason give you food, thereby adding to your weight problem.

Most overweight people have a hard enough time trying to maintain a diet and therefore if a friend or coworker brings in food it only adds to their already taxing willpower issue.I have been in the medical profession for a long time and while it is true that weight is sometimes influenced by social situations, such as being passed down in a family. It is and has always been my opinion that being overweight is mainly a problem that is best described as a case of overeating and simply an unhealthy diet. For example I can't blame my friends or coworkers for having made me eat anything, that I did on my own.

References for this article include: www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1649321,00.html
conchapman.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/help-my-friends-are-making-me-fat