About a year ago, my girlfriend got a job in a small office. She works with two other women who are both very heavy. Since then, my girlfriend has put on at least 30 lbs. My question is, does being around people who are overweight contribute to another person gaining weight?
I actually read an epidemiology study many years ago that studied this very thing and found that people in a workplace with overweight people ended up becoming overweight themselves. That generally, overweight people grouped together in the workplace as a result.
However, as a personal anecdote, my workplace had quite a few overweight people when I joined it about six months ago, but we all made a concious decision to work out, eat better and lose weight and, as a group, have lost probably 100 pounds in that span of time.
So it can go both ways. If you're worried about your girlfriend's weight, or she wants to lose it, you could talk about maybe her starting a trend at her own workplace that way. Just a thought. :smile: