Self Control Leads to Better Health and Easier Life

January 25th, 2011

According to a long term study of 1000 New Zealand children, self control at a young age, as young as 3, will affect the childs chances of drug abuse, STDs, obesity, and even high cholesterol and blood pressure by the time they reach the age of 32.

“These adult outcomes were predictable across the entire spectrum of self-control scores, from low to high,” said Terrie Moffitt, who led the research team along with Avshalom Caspi.

There is hope for those restless little ones though, as the study showed that as self control was learned, chances of these negative effects decreased.

However, as self control can be passed on from one generation to another, it is difficult for young children with parents who exhibit poor levels of self control to break out of the cycle.

Self control is a skill which can be learned at any age. The benefits of learning self control are huge not only to the individual, but to the public in general as money is saved on health bills, prisons, and rehab centers.

The study will appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was supported by .S. National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council, New Zealand Health Research Council, Hebrew University, and the Jacobs Foundation.