Good News For Guys

1 min

The more time men spent with friends as young kids and teenagers, the better their health may be as adults. This news comes from researchers who looked at data from a study including 267 young boys in Pittsburgh about 56 percent of them black and 41 percent white. The boys’ parents reported how much time their sons spent with friends during an average week, beginning when the boys were about six years old and continuing until they were 16. The researchers’ analysis of the data showed that the more time the boys spent with their friends, the healthier their blood pressure and body mass index was at age 32. This held true even after the researchers factored in physical health in childhood and social integration in adulthood. The findings were the same for both black and white boys. Researcher Jenny Cundiff of Texas Tech University said the results suggest that our early social lives may have a positive influence on our physical health as adults “and it’s not just our caregivers or financial circumstances, but also our friends who may be health protective.”

Source:
Jenny M. Cudiff and Karen A. Matthews “Friends With Health Benefits: The Long-Term Benefits of Early Peer Social Integration for Blood Pressure and Obesity in Midlife.” Psychological Science, March 13, 2018, doi.org/10.1177/0956797617746510

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