According to a new study, poor eating habits you pick up over time may not make you noticeably plumper immediately, but will slowly add permanent pounds over the years.

Reuters reports a Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital study that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine tracked weight and lifestyle changes in subjects every four years, and found that participants gained an average of 3.35 pounds every four years.

Researchers managed to pin an average four-year weight gain to individual foods. Potato chips caused a 1.69 gain over four years, sugary beverages added a pound and processed meats added 0.95 pounds.

When it comes to snack foods, what do you eat regularly that you know you shouldn’t?

TV and soda: Small habits cause excess pounds [Reuters via MSNBC]

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