Is Facebook making you fat?

Since Facebook hasn't been destroyed by the 2012 apocalypse, let me take this opportunity to poke fun at facebook users. I can do such a thing because I don't have a FB account. I hate FB. ##snipped##

So you only use FB to share family photos, or keep in touch with old friends, or talk to close friends.... I couldn't care less. I believe people were still able to do all of those things prior to FB's inception. ##snipped##

But I ran across this MensHealth article that reveals the results of a study conducted that links FB with bad food choices. From the article:

Facebook can temporarily improve your self-esteem when you focus on close friends, here’s the bad news: Enhanced self-esteem actually reduces your self-control when you make decisions, like choosing a snack, after browsing.

Yay, my FB friends like my new shoes!! ... hope these donuts are still fresh!!

Researchers surveyed 470 people about their Internet and Facebook use, plus their health and financial behaviors offline. The results: Frequent users with strong friend ties had an approximate BMI of 26, while infrequent Facebookers had an approximate BMI of 24. (A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered healthy.) High use was also linked to an increase in binge eating.

Yeah it's only 2 BMI points but if that wasn't bad enough, here's more bad news...

If the possibility of gaining a few extra pounds isn’t enough to curb your hunger for Facebook, the study also showed that the inverse relationship between high self-esteem and self-control plays a role in your finances. Frequent Facebook users who focused on close friends had about $1,000 more credit card debt than infrequent users.

Gotta keep up with the Joneses!!

Study author Keith Wilcox, Ph.D., an assistant professor of marketing at Columbia University, goes on to say:

“A bit of self-awareness can help you avoid engaging in this behavior. Facebook is not the problem. It’s the feeling of entitlement that’s the problem.”

If not FB, then it's the sense of entitlement... double whammy.

In the end, I know I must accept the existence of FB. My wife uses it, as do some, if not all, of my friends. FB isn't going away. I know I know, it's sad. But today, at least people have a way to share photos, keep in touch with old friends and have constant superficial conversations with all 3000 of their closest friends.

Smug?, on the subject of FB... yeah. If I offended anyone with my comments and/or opinions...

MensHealth.com in case you missed it

##snipped##

No because I spend 2 hours a day 4 to 5 days a week at the gym so............

reply to post by skepticconwatcher


hell, that's more time in the gym than me.

i don't care if people have a 26 or 24 body mass index; eat a bag of chips or eat a carrot, it's irrelevant ... i just have a passionate disdain for FB

No because I don't eat Facebook.....

reply to post by SiglenDyn


Thread-death by a million mindless one-liners and posters that don't read the thread.