We need to know: How much do you weigh?

Or, can you catch obesity over the Internet?

[weeks]

Obesity can spread from person to person, like a virus, researchers are reporting in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Bad news for webmasters: Proximity did not seem to matter: the influence of the friend remained even if the friend was hundreds of miles away.

When a person gains weight, close friends tend to gain weight, too. Fat friends increased a person’s chances of becoming obese by 57 percent.

There was no effect when a neighbor gained or lost weight, however, and family members had less influence than friends, The New York Times reported today.

The same effect seemed to occur for weight loss, the investigators say. But since most people were gaining, not losing, over the 32 years of the study, the result was an obesity epidemic.

[jecasc]

Another case of mixing up cause and effect. What are the most common ways to become friends? Sharing the same interests. Like sitting on the couch watching TV and drinking beer. Or playing MMORG or other computer games. And going to restaurants together instead of going to the gym. Therefore it is not surprising that friends - sharing the same interests do become obese at about the same time. And even if you live hundreds of miles away - it is still most probable that you once became friends because of sharing the same interests - or bad habits.

The good news is: I just found a perfect way to loose weight fast. I went to Beijing for two weeks and have lost 4 kilo in that time.

[Habtom]

I just found a perfect way to loose weight fast.

:) I am looking for the perfect way to gain weight, any advice?

[oneguy]

Take a trip to the US and make a bunch of friends?

[akmac]

Take a trip to the US and make a bunch of friends?

IWBROTFLMAOBITFTGBU!
I Would Be Rolling On The Floor Laughing My A$$ Off But I'm Too Fat To Get Back Up

[LifeinAsia]

I just found a perfect way to loose weight fast.

:) I am looking for the perfect way to gain weight, any advice?

Go to Beijing and look for the 4 kilos jecasc lost- they have to be there some place.

[justgowithit]

Take a trip to the US and make a bunch of friends?

Ouch. If I'm not mistaken I think I sense a touch of animosity.

[bcolflesh]

Take a trip to the US and make a bunch of friends?

I nearly dropped my tub of buttered popcorn on the keyboard when I read this.

How dare you, sir?

[justgowithit]

I nearly dropped my tub of buttered popcorn on the keyboard when I read this.

Don't worry, here in the US we extend the 5-second floor rule to 30-seconds just to be sure we can maximize our caloric intake.

[LifeinAsia]

Don't worry, here in the US we extend the 5-second floor rule to 30-seconds just to be sure we can maximize our caloric intake.

seconds? I thought it was days!

[justgowithit]

oh... of course - silly me.

Now where's that Twinkie I dropped on the floor last week.

[Duskrider]

Eh, you can find the twinkie later. It'll last forever no matter where you left it.

[oneguy]

Ouch. If I'm not mistaken I think I sense a touch of animosity.

Nah. Bad attempt at humor maybe, but that's what the article/story implies.

[en.wikipedia.org...]

I'd say bodyfat percentage would be a much better measurement than BMI, but I doubt it's too far off.

[ken_b]

How much do you weigh?

More than eight (8) pounds.