Man is a herd animal; he needs companions to survive. That was the case in prehistoric times and not much has changed for many representatives of its genus today. If a person is lonely, it can be life-threatening – even in today’s times. Studies show that loneliness and social isolation increase mortality. Obese people are particularly affected by this; they suffer from it more often than people of normal weight.
Loneliness and social isolation can have a serious impact on the health of obese people
This is because obesity, social isolation and loneliness are linked to various health problems. For example, the lack of social support can lead to the worsening of obese people’s health-threatening behaviors, such as smoking, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diets.
At the same time, obese people neglect health-promoting behaviors and, for example, are less likely to follow medical recommendations if they have no social contacts. For this reason, those affected also have an increased risk of death if they develop acute symptoms of serious illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, for which obesity is a significant risk factor: After all, they cannot communicate with anyone they trust who may urge medical help.
Mortality risk among obese people decreases the less lonely and socially isolated they are
However, a new study from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, which looked into this connection in more detail, is now encouraging. Lu Qi’s researchers examined data from around 399,000 overweight and normal-weight people from the British UK Biobank. The test subjects were asked to indicate whether and how lonely and socially isolated they felt over a period of 15 years.
During the evaluation, the scientists came to the conclusion that the more the subjects’ social situation improved and the less lonely and isolated they were, the more their overall mortality risk decreased. The effect was particularly clear among the obese study participants: their risk fell by 36 percent. For people of normal weight it was nine percent less.
Social isolation has a significant impact on all-cause mortality
The reduction in social isolation had a particular impact on this. The scientists compared the importance of social isolation and loneliness with depression, anxiety disorders and other lifestyle-dependent risk factors such as alcohol and unhealthy diet for the risk of death in people with obesity and found that social isolation was more important than the factors mentioned. It can be concluded that social isolation had a significant role in the estimation of all-cause mortality.
The researchers concluded that by reducing social isolation, the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality among obese people decreases.
“Our findings underline that more intensive measures are required for people with obesity to reduce social isolation and thus reduce the risk of mortality,” the scientists concluded.
Which sports prolong life
Sport can also help to extend life – regardless of body weight. A large-scale observational study by the US National Cancer Institute looked at exactly which sports can reduce the risk of death. Accordingly, the following sporting leisure activities can protect against premature death caused by cardiovascular diseases:
Running Cycling Swimming Aerobic Exercise Racquet Sports Golf Walking
Moderate, longer workouts are minimally more effective than short, intense workouts
It’s not just the type of exercise that’s important, but also the duration and intensity. In another study, researchers at Harvard University found that both
moderate training two to four times a week (150 to 300 minutes/week) as well as intensive training (75 to 150 minutes/week)
can reduce the risk of death.
However, there was a slight difference: While intensive training reduced the risk by 21 to 23 percent, moderate training reduced it by 26 to 31 percent. According to the study, moderate, longer training is somewhat more effective.
It is therefore recommended to do at least 2.5 hours of exercise per week. It doesn’t matter whether you prefer to do longer training sessions or several shorter training sessions. But you shouldn’t exercise more than six hours a week.