Yang Liu, Xiaobei Zhou, Ning Ding, Shenzhi Song, Joel Gittelsohn, Nan Jiang, Samantha M Sundermeir, Yanan Ma, Deliang Wen
A series of influential articles suggests that obesity may spread between couples, siblings, and close friends via an obesity contagion phenomenon. Classmates, as important structural equivalents in one's social network, may experience obesity contagion. However, this has rarely been examined. Anthropometric measurements, questionnaire surveys, and geographic information were collected from 3670 children from 26 schools in Northeast China. We found that classmates were positively related in terms of body mass index (BMI), body fat, physical activity, and intake of vegetables, fruits, fast food, snacks, and sugar-sweetened beverages...
June 2024: SSM—Population Health