Family Matters: The Remarkable Power of Social Support
Weight control essentially involves mastery over one’s one biology. That is, effective weight controllers must learn to manage their bodies’ biological drives toward maintaining or gaining weight. That biological drive, a powerful opponent, can be managed through eating very little fat, maintaining high levels of activity, and also staying positively focused on long-term goals. Saying that is much easier that doing it.
In the case of children and teenagers, families provide the foundation upon which successful long-term weight control emerges. Families can support the weight controller’s efforts in what they do and say or they can sabotage the efforts. Let’s consider some of the examples of the remarkable power of social support in helping people change. When reviewing this list, imagine what it would be like to for a teenager to attempt to lose weight and develop the appropriate attitude toward problems and other aspects of life without the strong and consistent support of the family.
Good relationships with others, including the provision of information, emotional support, and even material support when necessary, can do many things for people. Most fundamentally, people who get good support from others even live longer lives than those without good connections to other people. A study of 7,000 adults in Alameda County California, for example, showed that people who lacked relationship with others died at a younger age than those who were married, had frequent contact with friends and neighbors, and belonged to social clubs or religious groups. As this and the following studies show, support from others can mitigate the effects of stress:
- Women who had another person with them during labor and childbirth experienced fewer complications than did women who did not have a husband, relative or friend present. The supported group gave birth sooner, was awake more after delivery and played with their babies more than the unsupported group.
- Social support helped men who lost their jobs. Men with good support reported fewer illnesses and less depression than men who did not have adequate support from others following the loss of their jobs.
- Support by parents and hospital staff helped children adjust more effectively to surgery.
- Recovery from heart attacks was improved when people had spouses, friends and relatives around them.
Athletes rely on social support to help them when their training goes poorly or if they have a less than stellar performance. Coaches know this very well and the best coaches know how to help, especially when an athlete struggles with performance or training issues. Weight controllers, in a very similar vein, struggle sometimes to stay focused, manage every situation effectively, and maintain the consistency of their positive optimistic attitudes toward their programs. If your family can support and nurture the weight controller, particularly during difficult challenges or struggles with the process or the outcomes, your weight controller has a much better chance of long-term success.
