As we’re nearly a quarter of the way through 2014, are you still focused on the New Year’s resolution you made? If you vowed to lose weight, a new meta-analysis may help your cause.
The systematic review, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, does not offer new evidence on what or how much to eat. Instead, it looked at how social groups – the people with whom you spend time on a daily basis – influence what you eat.
The analysis included 15 studies about how people make food choices. Some of the studies investigated how information influences what people eat, and other studies examined the effect of other people’s food choices on what people eat.
The investigators found consistent evidence that social norms about food — in other words, what the people around us eat — influence our own food choices. Specifically they found that when others eat low- or high-caloric foods, people around them are likely to make similar food choices.
The authors suggest we can use these findings to develop more effective public health campaigns that encourage healthy eating.
On a more personal level, the review provides some evidence that the people you surround yourself with on a daily basis influence your food choices. So if you’re trying to lose weight, have lunch with a friend who is also dieting. Or encourage your spouse to adopt healthy eating habits with you.
The take-home message: The people around you can play a key role in your eating choices and ultimately your health. Likewise, you can play a key role in influencing them!
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