Is your marital status responsible for those extra pounds ?

Posted by Dr Sandy on in Obesity | 290 Views | 2 Responses

Here comes the bride, big and fat and wide…………

Getting married or divorced, definitely shakes up your life, the standard operating procedures are often re-written to accommodate the presence/absence of the other individual.

Re-writing the rule book, especially when you’re over thirty, can generate a “weight shock”. But what the scale does, depends on your gender, according to research conducted by sociologists at Ohio State University.

In and out of marriage over the years

The Ohio State University study tracked the impact of marital transitions on BMI (body mass index) for a group of 10 071 people who were part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth ’79.

All of these folks were youngsters, between the ages of 14 to 22 in 1979. Among the measures tracked every two years for a total of 29 years, was the person’s BMI and marital status.

The researchers were not tracking BMI values per se, but changes. BMI was considered to have changed if the figure increased or decreased by 1 kg/m² i.e. the person gained or lost around 3 kg or 7 pounds.

When doing the analysis of the numbers, the researchers tried to account for other factors that might influence weight gain, such as pregnancy.

The marriage fat count

Generally speaking the marital transitions don’t have a huge impact on weight, so blaming your bulging belly on your living arrangements, is probably unwarranted.

That said, for those delaying marriage until they were thirty or forty something, saying “I do” or “I no longer do”, did contribute to how much more or less they weighed.

Getting shackled locks in BMI

For men.

“Getting shackled” to the love of your life, is a positive health move, at least when it comes to BMI. It could be argued it brings a little psychological torment by some.

When that ball and chain (Haha), is forcefully removed with a little help from the legal fraternity, the pounds pile on.

Getting set free lowers BMI

For ladies.

Divorce may bring emotional upheaval, but it triggers enough angst to get the fat cells moving – OUT.

The comfort of a strong pair of dedicated arms, seems to encourage weight gain.

Oh, who are we kidding – the cooking and cleaning and general slaving away, often leaves the average married women with zero time for herself. Keeping slim and trim takes time and energy, which is not always in abundant supply when you have to keep house and bring home the bacon. Too tired to eat – new one

Seeing the future you

Studies like these cannot really predict the future – how much you weigh is dependent on lots of different things. But the message is clear – marriage transitions can potentially cause weight changes. Causes of obesity

Putting on extra weight, even just a few kilograms is not a positive health move in the long run. So if you’re undergoing a transition, pay attention to how you write out your new rule book.

Large Weight gains most likely for men after divorse, women after marriage – press release from Ohio State University

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