Having friends is nice — just about everyone can agree to that. Think back to the friendships you made as a child: the warm summer evenings running around playing tag outside; the tea parties with stuffed animals; swinging on the swings and talking about things that are important to kids. We hope that you had these types of experiences when you were young.
Yes, the study also acknowledged that healthy socialization as a child comes along with a whole host of other positive outcomes for adults when they grow up. But incredibly — despite controlling for factors like race, personality, childhood health, and income — having close friends as a child correlates with superior physical health as an adult.
The lead researcher on the study, Jenny M. Specifically, the protective aspect that Ms. The study found that those who had close childhood friendships were far more likely to end up with a healthy and appropriate BMI for their size once they reached adulthood. So, why is this improved BMI significant? Smoking, for example, is linked to a whole host of terrible outcomes. And obesity — a problem where your BMI falls too far past the upper end of your healthy limit for your height — has some of the worst and most negative outcomes of all.
No — remember, correlation is not the same thing as causation. However, think of it like a deck of cards. If you have a normal BMI, the odds of developing blood pressure problems, for example, might be similar to the odds of drawing an Ace from the deck.
The shuffle is still random, but the chances are significantly higher. The bottom line is this: in this study, people who developed close childhood connections ended up being significantly more likely to have a healthy BMI by age Afraid of the Doctor?
