Study Finds Where You Live May Affect Weight More Than Lifestyle Choices - Video

Our body weight isn't just shaped by what we eat-it's also influenced by where we live. A new study published in Social Science & Medicine reveals that our surroundings may play a bigger role in our weight than we’ve ever realized.

Researchers in Australia found that location explains nearly 15.5% of variations in body weight, showing that “place” itself can subtly change how we live, eat, and even spend on food.

Excess weight is a rising global health issue, linked to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. In Australia alone, obesity rates jumped from 24.6% in 2007–08 to 31.7% in 2022, but the distribution isn’t even—some regions have less than 15% obesity while others cross 40%.

This made researchers ask: do people gain or lose weight mainly because of personal lifestyle choices, or because of the environments they live in?

To find the answer, the team used a dynamic event study—a method that tracks people before and after they move to a new area. They followed over 15,000 Australian adults between 2006 and 2019, using nearly 100,000 data points from a national longitudinal survey.

They compared both movers and non-movers, focusing on Body Mass Index (BMI) trends over time. The researchers also examined food spending patterns and activity levels to uncover behavioral pathways.

The results were striking. When people moved, their BMI tended to shift toward the average weight of their new neighborhood—a trend that accounted for about one-sixth of geographical weight differences. Women showed stronger location effects than men, and areas with easier access to healthy foods saw the biggest impact.

Interestingly, place had a clear influence on how people spent on groceries and restaurant food, but much less on physical activity.

The takeaway? While individual habits still matter the most, place itself leaves a meaningful mark on body weight. Policies to reduce obesity, therefore, shouldn’t just focus on educating individuals—but also on designing healthier, more accessible local environments that make good choices easier and natural.

REFERENCE: Duncan, A., Mavisakalyan, A., Vu, L., Windsor, M. (2025). Product of our environment? Place effects on Body Mass Index. Social Science & Medicine. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625010597