Couples Getting Healthier Together

From an article in Medical News:

COUPLES WHO DECIDE TO GET HEALTHY TOGETHER HAVE MORE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES

"People are more successful in taking up healthy habits if their partner makes positive changes too, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine today (Monday).

Scientists at UCL funded by Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, and the National Institute on Aging looked at how likely people were to quit smoking, start being active, or lose weight in relation to what their partner did.

They found that people were more successful in swapping bad habits for good ones if their partner made a change as well.

For example, among women who smoked, 50 per cent managed to quit if their partner gave up smoking too at the same time, compared with 17 per cent of women whose partners were already non-smokers, and eight per cent of those whose partners were regular smokers.

The study found that men were equally affected by their partners and were more likely to quit smoking, get active, or lose weight if their partner made the same behavior change....."

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Have you found this to be true in your relationship?  Do you and your partner support each other in developing better health?

I have found that my partner and I do indeed support each other in exercising regularly.  But the influence doesn't extend much beyond that.  We continue to stick to our own patterns in other areas, like eating habits.

And when it comes to dealing my pain relapses -- he suggests, but I do it my way.  Do you and your partner influence each other when it comes to dealing with illness and pain?