Loneliness May Be a Bigger Threat than Obesity

One thing to always make big headlines is obesity, and it does deserve much attention. There are recent studies that state isolation and loneliness may possibly be just and even more deadly than that of smoking 15 cigarettes a day, or obesity. The lack of social connection and human interaction can be so dangerous that the feeling of loneliness can become a stronger predictor of mortality than obesity, according to a recent study.

Loneliness and social isolation are different things, but are connected. Loneliness is more about the lack of an emotional connection with another person that can happen even if you are in a room full of other people. Social isolation means lack of contact with other people completely.

Researchers at Brigham Young University conducted a study with results that suggest loneliness and social isolations may significantly increase the risks of premature death by up to 50%. The team conducted 2 meta-analyses of studies examining connections between social isolation, loneliness, and mortality. This study involved over 300,00 adults encompassing 148 studies in the 1st meta-analysis, the 2nd having 70 studies involving over 3.4 million adults.

It was found by the team that in the 1st study the risk of premature dying was 50% lower with individuals who said they had good social connections as compared to those who had reported being more socially isolated. It was found in the 2nd study that social isolation, loneliness, and living alone all increased the risk of premature death. It was also found that overall the combination of social isolation, loneliness, and living alone increased the risk of premature death just as much as, and possibly even more, than obesity and other major health conditions. Obesity can increase the risk of dying before reaching the age of 70 by up to 30%.

Today society has become media driven, and many boost thousand of online friends on social networks, but that does not provide the real life personal connection that is more intimate with actual human contact that people need. We have an increasingly growing population that is becoming more isolated than before because more people are opting for online rather than in person. Being popular on facebook means about as much as winning at a game of online monopoly, in that it doesn’t really add up to much in the form of actual true friendship and real, physical human interaction and contact. Put down the devices, pick your heads up, get out of the house, and just say hello to a relative or real life friend,  or maybe even try doing some volunteer work, your mind will thank you for it.