Keys to Long Life

            I recently read an article about a personality study which was used to predict how a long a person’s life would be. The findings of the study were published in the Hudson Street Press, and it was called, “The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study”.

            In 1921, over 1500 students, about the age of 10, began the study, and information was gathered by a Stanford University psychologist named Louis Terman. The study followed the children throughout their lives, gathering data on their family, social relationships, hobbies, pets, job, education level, and many other details. This most recent study was led by Howard S. Friedman (a psychology professor), and Leslie R. Martin, an alumna from the University of California. Subsequently known as The Longevity Project, this study discovered that a person’s risk of dying could be predicted from a personality characteristics and relationships that were formed in their childhood. Before this study, many factors were assumed to be at fault for a person’s risk of dying, such as anxiety, lack of exercise, lack of religion, lack of social well-being, pessimism, and Type A behavioral traits. These factors were, for the first time, able to be studied long-term. The study consistently became more and more complex, as it went on decades longer than expected, and gathered in hundreds of graduates and undergraduates who helped to gain information on The Longevity Project participants. One of the most surprising results that was found, was that the participants who were the most optimistic, joyful, and upbeat, lived shorter lives than those who were not; in other words, the most cautious and determined individuals were those who were alive and healthy for the longest time. It was suspected that maybe this discovery was due to the fact that happy-go-lucky children tended to take more risks in regards to their health, and were more careless. Though it is difficult for many to accept, it was found that happiness is not a main cause of good health.

            The study showed, interestingly, that marriage is good for men’s health, but has little to no effect on women’s health; men who were in a stable marriage lived years beyond 70, whereas men who experienced divorce or never married rarely lived past 70. Another misconception disproved by this study was that working and stressing too much worsened health; it was instead found that committed and career-oriented men and women lived much longer than laid-back men and women. As well, it was shown that people who feel respected and loved do not live longer than those who do not; however, it is obvious that there are health benefits to having positive social relationships.

            I found this study very interesting because, often, so many people are misinformed by others who accept ideas that are told to them. This study showed some of the major misconceptions that are generally accepted by society in regards to health and long life. I think it is important to realize that it is never too late to decide to pursue a healthier path, and that this can only be done when less time is spent worrying about worrying, and more time is spent acting. I think that once people learn about the long term healthy and unhealthy lifestyles that they follow, they will be better able to maximize the healthy lifestyle patterns. I think small changes to a person’s lifestyle can eventually lead them onto a path to health and long life.

            If anyone would like to read more about this incredible study, here is the link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110311153541.htm.

            Thank you.

Obesity Stigma

             A recent article in the journal “Social Psychology Quarterly” addresses an important issue of stigma that many people may not fully appreciate. When we think about stigma we often think about the discrimination and prejudice that occurs against based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. This article by Markus Schafer discusses the adverse health effects of stigma based on body weight. Nobody would be surprised with the finding that obesity is associated with poor overall health. However, Shafer and colleagues found that obese people who experienced weight related discrimination had even worse health outcomes over time than obese people who did not experience such discrimination. The study was based on a ten year follow up study of 1500 Americans and found that obese people who experienced weight discrimination had the sharpest decline in health function over time.

              Obesity is a major challenge in contemporary North American society. Obesity is defined based on body mass index (BMI); BMI values of 26 – 29 are considered overweight and BMI values 30 and higher are considered obese. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that 34% of Americans are overweight and another 34% are obese. In Canada a recent large survey found that 36% of the population is overweight and another 23% is obese. Despite the alarmingly high prevalence of obesity, we are constantly bombarded with media images of people who are uniformly slim, attractive, and beautiful. One might think that with the rising rates of obesity in the US and Canada, that anti-fat prejudices would quickly decline, but this does not appear to be the case. Obesity discrimination is one of the last forms of discrimination that society appears to readily accept. Obese people are pre-judged as being lazy, weak-willed, lacking self-control, or having flawed character. In contrast, scientific evidence finds that the causes of obesity are much more complex and include genetic factors, body metabolism, culture, environment, and socioeconomic status, in addition to behavior.

            Shafer’s study shows that in addition to the adverse health effects of obesity, and the negative psychological effects of experiencing discrimination, obese people suffer a further toll on their health as a result of being discriminated against. So, why do people feel that it is acceptable to discriminate against others based on body weight? Perhaps some feel that fat people could decide to lose weight if only they “put their mind to it” (in other words, they are to blame for their own problems). While this kind of thinking seems intuitive on some levels, it is pretty clear that many many obese people have repeatedly tried and failed to lose weight. Many others have successfully lost weight and are unable to maintain their weight loss. Discrimination against any group of people is fundamentally unfair and causes harm to those who experience the discimination and well as causing harm to the society that condones the violation of the rights of any group of people. Hopefully, increasing awareness of the complex causes of obesity and awareness of the negative impacts on those disciminated against will help reduce this unfortunate social stigma.

            Here is a link to the article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110303065211.htm

            Thanks!