A team of researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (United States) focused on friendships as well as social networks and their influences on our daily lives. Published in the PNAS journal , the study reveals that having friends in real life and on our Facebook account plays a role just as important as a diet or regular exercise!
In order to carry out the study, the scientists relied on four surveys conducted with the American panel. They focused on social integration, social support and social pressure. At the same time, they asked these same people for several details about their health related to mortality risk.
We all like to sometimes take time for ourselves to breathe a little. However, according to the study, in the long term, isolation weakens our health. During adolescence, not having friends would be as dangerous to health as physical inactivity. In adulthood, it is on blood pressure and diabetes that isolation has consequences. On the other hand, being socially integrated would protect against abdominal obesity, that's good news!
The influence our friends have on our health depends on our age. For example, around the twenties and around the sixties, it is the number of friends we have that influences our health. In contrast, in mid-adulthood around forty, it is not the quantity but the quality of friendships that matters.
