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Friendship Is Good For Your Health, Study Finds

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Friendship is as important to good health as exercise and nutritious food according to a recent study.

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, points to social interactions having as much to do with being healthy as diet and exercise.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have seen that the quality and amount of social ties a person has can affect certain health measures.

The study looked at four surveys of Americans ranging in age from adolescents to seniors. More than 14,000 participates were involved. They investigated to see how social integration, social support and social strain affected four different health measures: blood pressure, waist circumference, body mass index and systemic inflammation. These measures have been linked to heart disease, stroke, cancer and other ailments. The effects were studied across various ages.

The study ultimately revealed that the more social interactions that were had at a young age, the better health the person will have throughout their life according to WebMD.

Co-author of the study and professor at UNC Kathleen Mullan Harris said that it is as essential to help young people to develop social skills as it is to teach them to eat well and exercise.

Based on these findings, it should be as important to encourage adolescents and young adults to build broad social relationships and social skills for interacting with others as it is to eat healthy and be physically active.

Research done previously had already shown a link between older adults living longer and having larger social groups. This study shows that the effects begin much earlier and have an effect in each stage of life. For example, teenagers find themselves at greater risk of inflammation and abdominal obesity when socially isolated whereas the risk of hypertension goes up for socially isolated seniors.

The Independent reports that while having big social groups is important to the teens’ and seniors’ health, during mid-adulthood, the quality is more important than quantity. During this time, when many are balancing children, older parents as well as careers, people seem to need good, supportive relationships to stay healthy.

Yang Claire Yang, another UNC professor and co-author of the study, said that the research should prove to health workers that it is important to educate the public on how relationships affect our physical health.

Our analysis makes it clear that doctors, clinicians, and other health workers should redouble their efforts to help the public understand how important strong social bonds are throughout the course of all of our lives.

Are you surprised by this study’s findings?

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