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Is there evidence that friends influence body weight? A systematic review of empirical research

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  • Cunningham, Solveig A.
  • Vaquera, Elizabeth
  • Maturo, Claire C.
  • Venkat Narayan, K.M.

Abstract

Researchers and policymakers from diverse fields are engaged in efforts to understand the biological and social causes of obesity in order to develop policies, interventions, and recommendations to stop or reverse increases in obesity. One potentially promising approach is to harness influence from social contacts. An important foundation for this approach involves critically analyzing available data regarding whether and how body weight can be affected by close social contacts, especially friends. This systematic review examines evidence from published studies addressing the influences of friends on body weight. The majority of the sixteen studies conclude that there is evidence of influence: six reported that friends influence body weight and ten reported evidence of influence in some circumstances or specifications. However, this literature sheds little light on mechanisms of influence. There is limited evidence that friends’ communication about weight is associated with weight status and no compelling evidence that friends’ behaviors affect one’s weight. Many of the studies best designed to examine influence were the ones that did not explore mechanisms of influence. A priority for future research is to understand how, when, and how much friends affect the risk of obesity.

Suggested Citation

  • Cunningham, Solveig A. & Vaquera, Elizabeth & Maturo, Claire C. & Venkat Narayan, K.M., 2012. "Is there evidence that friends influence body weight? A systematic review of empirical research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(7), pages 1175-1183.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:7:p:1175-1183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.05.024
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cohen-Cole, Ethan & Fletcher, Jason M., 2008. "Is obesity contagious? Social networks vs. environmental factors in the obesity epidemic," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1382-1387, September.
    2. Trogdon, Justin G. & Nonnemaker, James & Pais, Joanne, 2008. "Peer effects in adolescent overweight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1388-1399, September.
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    Cited by:

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    2. McKennie, Caitlin & Argys, Laura M. & Friedson, Andrew I., 2018. "Is Good Health Contagious? The Impact of BMI Environment on Individual BMI," IZA Discussion Papers 11770, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Christensen, Vibeke T. & Carpiano, Richard M., 2014. "Social class differences in BMI among Danish women: Applying Cockerham's health lifestyles approach and Bourdieu's theory of lifestyle," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 12-21.
    4. Zhang, J. & Tong, L. & Lamberson, P.J. & Durazo-Arvizu, R.A. & Luke, A. & Shoham, D.A., 2015. "Leveraging social influence to address overweight and obesity using agent-based models: The role of adolescent social networks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 203-213.
    5. Michael DiNardi & Melanie Guldi & David Simon, 2019. "Body weight and Internet access: evidence from the rollout of broadband providers," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 877-913, July.
    6. Müller, Nathalie & Fallucchi, Francesco & Suhrcke, Marc, 2024. "Peer effects in weight-related behaviours of young people: A systematic literature review," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    7. Choi, Jaesung & Park, Hyunjoon & Behrman, Jere R., 2015. "Separating boys and girls and increasing weight? Assessing the impacts of single-sex schools through random assignment in Seoul," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 1-11.
    8. Perry, Brea L. & Ciciurkaite, Gabriele, 2019. "Contributions of personality to social influence: Contingent associations between social network body size composition and BMI," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 1-10.
    9. Eisenberg, Marla E. & Wall, Melanie M. & Larson, Nicole & Arlinghaus, Katherine R. & Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne, 2021. "Do emerging adults know what their friends are doing and does it really matter? Methodologic challenges and associations of perceived and actual friend behaviors with emerging adults’ disordered eatin," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    10. Trogdon, Justin G. & Allaire, Benjamin T., 2014. "The effect of friend selection on social influences in obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 153-164.
    11. Strombotne, Kiersten L. & Fletcher, Jason M. & Schlesinger, Mark J., 2019. "Peer effects of obesity on child body composition," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 49-57.
    12. Block, Per & Heathcote, Lauren C. & Burnett Heyes, Stephanie, 2018. "Social interaction and pain: An arctic expedition," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 47-55.

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