Smoking is not the only public health area where peer influences can be noticeable. Similar influences may shape the spread of obesity. Last year, a medical professor and a political scientist published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine the followed the spread of obesity among some 12,000 people from 1971 to 2003. You may have caught this in the news, but it’s worth taking a peek at this animated graphic (with audio) of how obesity spreads across this network of people. The clip last about two minutes.
Tags: obesity, social norms
