Changing What We Do or What We Think?

As the chapter says, "In real life, we measure ourselves against our friends." This is the overall theme I saw in the chapter throughout the many topics it covered. The one that most interested me (besides the disturbing and shocking STD statistics) were the eating habits. I thought it was interesting the examples they gave of people who never have seen each other in real life but somehow through mutual people can affect weight gain. The indirect perceptions people take in and give off is something I never considered before. Obviously, the other factors in the changing weight norms are huge but they are more publicized. I had never thought about the idea that how I see someone's weight changing could affect the way I treat a different friend about her health and diet without the two ever coming into contact with each other.
The more well known way of spreading eating habits is imitation and this has never been so present in my life as it is now in dining halls. I hate many things about dining halls. There is always the pressure to take similar foods and portion sizes to whoever you are with, on either side of the extreme spectrum. Desserts are easier to take if people around you take one. Also, there tends to be the "I'm so fat" talk. Girls love to either bash how much food they did take or complain about how little food they took. Either way it adds up to asking for reassurance that they are not fat or sending a message to someone else at the table. Unhealthy patterns thrive in this environment, eating too little and eating too much. It is imitation at its most obvious state.