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Spending time with fat people increases the chances of becoming obese as carrying extra weight comes to be seen as normal, scientists have said.
People are influenced by the weight of those around them without being aware of it, leading to a 'spiral of obesity', according to a study by University of Warwick researchers.
The study shows that whether someone is satisfied with their own weight depends on how they compare themselves to those around them and people with a degree or high education or qualification are particularly hard on themselves, reported the London Telegraph on Friday.
It found that for women whether they are happy with their own weight depended crucially upon not just their own absolute body mass index but also upon their body mass index relative to other women of exactly the same age in their country.
Men do not worry about being overweight as long as plenty of men around them were also overweight.
Professor Andrew Oswald at the University of Warwick, one of the researchers, said: 'People are influenced by relative comparisons, and norms have changed and are still changing.
'A lot of research into obesity, which has emphasized sedentary lifestyles or human biology or fast-food, has missed the key point. Rising obesity needs to be thought of as a sociological phenomenon not a physiological one. People are influenced by relative comparisons, and norms have changed and are still changing.'
Nearly half of European women feel overweight compared to less than a third of men, the study of 27,000 Europeans found.
The findings will be presented at the National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the Telegraph report.
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