Overweight children and teenagers may eat more when they have a snack with an overweight friend rather than a thinner peer.
Overweight children and teenagers may eat more when they have a snack with an overweight friend rather than a thinner peer.
Friendship may be uniquely relevant and influential to youths' eating behaviour. To examine how children adjust their level of eating with their eating partner/s, researchers from America made 23 overweight and 42 normal-weight children and teens to spend 45 minutes with either a friend or an unfamiliar peer. Each pair was given games, puzzles and books for entertainment, along with bowls of chips, cookies, carrots and grapes.
It was found that pairs of friends had more calories than did unacquainted pairs. And overweight friends consumed the most 738 calories, on average, versus 444 calories when an overweight child was paired with normal-weight friend. Normal-weight kids consumed an average of about 500 calories when paired with a friend, regardless of the friend's weight.
The results indicate that regardless of their weight, overweight children tended to eat more when they had the chance to snack with a friend than when they were with a peer they did not know. But the biggest calorie intakes were seen when an overweight child snacked with an overweight friend.
The above findings highlight the role of friends' influence in how much kids eat and possibly in their weight control.
The researchers attributed the findings to the fact that people are more self-conscious around strangers and also that friends act as permission-givers.
Friendship may be uniquely relevant and influential to youths' eating behaviour. To examine how children adjust their level of eating with their eating partner/s, researchers from America made 23 overweight and 42 normal-weight children and teens to spend 45 minutes with either a friend or an unfamiliar peer. Each pair was given games, puzzles and books for entertainment, along with bowls of chips, cookies, carrots and grapes.
It was found that pairs of friends had more calories than did unacquainted pairs. And overweight friends consumed the most 738 calories, on average, versus 444 calories when an overweight child was paired with normal-weight friend. Normal-weight kids consumed an average of about 500 calories when paired with a friend, regardless of the friend's weight.
The results indicate that regardless of their weight, overweight children tended to eat more when they had the chance to snack with a friend than when they were with a peer they did not know. But the biggest calorie intakes were seen when an overweight child snacked with an overweight friend.
The above findings highlight the role of friends' influence in how much kids eat and possibly in their weight control.
The researchers attributed the findings to the fact that people are more self-conscious around strangers and also that friends act as permission-givers.
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