Exploring the link and inter-relations between social relationships and objectively measured cardiometabolic risk factors in older adult women and men in Canada

Social ties are important for people’s survival and both the quantity and quality matter for overall physical and mental health. Women and men differ in the number and size of different types of social relationships and in their health impacts. Canada recognizes the importance of social connections among seniors for healthy ageing, but how social ties influence health and longevity is still not fully understood. Canadian evidence to inform policy is greatly needed as current data are limited and nearly two decades old. Using advanced statistical methods, this study fills a knowledge gap on unanswered questions about quantity and quality of social ties in relation to waist circumference, body mass index and blood pressure as drivers of longevity.