Sit with healthy colleagues at lunch to lose weight, scientists say
Sitting with your colleagues at lunch could help you lose weight, scientists have suggested as a study showed we mimic the eating habits of our companions.
Researchers analysed the eating patterns of 6,000 employees at a US hospital by collecting data on their food purchases, including who they were with at the time.
It was found their choice of meal was regularly influenced by the person they were with at the time.
If you are eating with someone you are close to, the research suggests, you are more likely to mirror their food choices.
However, even sitting and eating with a casual acquaintance can have an impact on how you both eat, which may help explain how obesity can spread through friendship.
The study combed through three million meal-time encounters that the 6,000 participants had with other people over a two-year period.
Significantly, some employees would consistently make healthier choices on the days they sat with colleagues who tended to eat healthy food.
More broadly, people who knew each other were likely to have similarities in their food options than differences.
Researchers were keen to establish participants had truly been influenced by who they ate with, rather than being drawn to people who have similar lifestyle and food preferences.
Dr Douglas Levy, a study author from Massachusetts General Hospital, said: "We controlled for characteristics that people had in common and analysed the data from numerous perspectives, consistently finding results that supported social influence rather than homophily explanations."
He added: "We found that individuals tend to mirror the food choices of others in their social circles, which may explain one way obesity spreads through social networks.”
Peer pressure was said to be one explanation for the phenomenon.
Dr Levy added: "People may change their behaviour to cement the relationship with someone in their social circle.
"Co-workers may also implicitly or explicitly give each other license to choose unhealthy foods or exert pressure to make a healthier choice."
The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.
