Friendship May Help Curb Obesity in Children

In an effort to elucidate the interrelationship between food and social activity in overweight and non-overweight children, Sarah-Jeanne Salvy, from  State University of New York/Buffalo (USA), and colleagues assessed 54 overweight and non-overweight youths, ages 9 to 11 years.  Each was assigned randomly to bring a friend or to be paired with an unfamiliar peer.  Study participants worked on a computer game to earn points exchangeable for food or time to spend with their friend or with an unfamiliar peer. The researchers found that the youths substituted food for social activities when the cost of social time with an unfamiliar peer increased, and substituted food for social activities with an unfamiliar peer when the cost of food increased.  Notably, when interacting with a friend was the alternative, participants did not substitute food for social interactions.  The team suggests that: “Social interactions can serve as a substitute for food in both lean and overweight youth. “