Health = Friendship and Friendship = Health

Don’t you just hate that trite expression – “It isn’t what you know… it’s who you know?”  Well it turns out that it is true in a way that you might not have expected.  Just knowing how to make good health choices isn’t enough.  You need to be connected to people in your life that care that you make those healthy choices.  A strong network of friends is an essential ingredient to achieving your health objectives and that is now being supported by real academic research.

Here is a quote from today’s “Well” article from the New York Times:

“Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship and social networks in overall health.  A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends.  A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk for obesity among people whose friends gained weight.  And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could promote brain health as we age.”

It makes so much sense that eating, exercising, drinking, smoking and managing stress have very strong social dimensions – we do these things as part of our lives with our friends and relations.  Just think how many people you know smoke, drink and overeat when at parties or in other social situations.  The social norm seems to approve of and support these decisions. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Why has Weight Watchers and other support-based health improvement approaches had so much success?  For one, they are establishing a friendship network that supports eating healthier and exercising more.  Because with a strong friendship network that is connected to our shared health, we can all truly live better longer – sound familier?