Scientists discover worrying link between marriage and obesity
Married men are over three times more likely than unmarried men to be obese, a new study has reveale
(Web Desk) - Relationship weight gain is a well-observed trend, but now the phenomenon is backed with actual research by experts, who studied 2,405 Polish people typically aged 50.
The study found that the chances of both men and women of being overweight increased after marriage, but the rates were much higher in men.
In women, the risk of being overweight was 39 per cent higher, while for men, this soared to 62 per cent, compared to couples who were unmarried.
This chance of being overweight increased by three per cent in men and four per cent in women for each additional year married.
Additionally, married men were more likely to be classified as obese than unmarried men.
However, this trend was not mirrored with women, with the researchers theorising this is due to the fact that women “are more often stigmatised” over their appearance by society.
Dr Alicja Cicha-Mikolajczyk, from the National Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw claimed women “cannot accept living with obesity” and would therefore be more likely to be proactive in managing their weight.
For women, there was also a correlation between depression, or poor health knowledge, and risk of obesity, but the same was not true for men.
The complete findings of the study will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Spain in May.
The team explained: “Age and marital status have undeniable impact on living with overweight or obesity in adulthood regardless of sex.
“In turn, inadequate health literacy and having at least borderline depression were associated with obesity in women.
“It appears from our results that the dissemination of health knowledge and health promotion across the lifespan could reduce the worrying phenomenon of increasing levels of obesity.”
