Why a happy marriage can be heavy going: Smitten newlyweds more likely to …

  • On average, spouses happy with their marriage gain more weight over time
  • Those less satisfied tend to gain less weight, according to new research

By
Daily Mail Reporter


PUBLISHED:

23:33 GMT, 4 April 2013


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UPDATED:

23:34 GMT, 4 April 2013

A happy marriage can lead to a couple putting on weight, according to a study.

Contented newlyweds are more likely to put on the pounds due to being less motivated to attract an alternative mate, say US researchers who tracked the marital satisfaction and weight of 169 couples over four years.

Psychologist Andrea L Meltzer, who led the study, said: ‘On average, spouses who were more satisfied with their marriage were less likely to consider leaving their marriage, and they gained more weight over time.

A happy marriage can lead to couples putting on weight, new research has found (file photo)

A happy marriage can lead to couples putting on weight, new research has found (file photo)

‘In contrast, couples who were less satisfied in their relationship tended to gain less weight over time.’

The researchers, from Southern Methodist
University in Dallas, Texas, said the findings challenged the standard
belief that quality relationships were beneficial to health.

Ms Meltzer added that previous psychological research had established
that marriage was  associated with weight gain and that divorce was
associated with weight loss. But, she stressed, the role of marital
satisfaction in those changes in weight was not so clear.

‘For example, studies have found that satisfied couples are more likely
to take medications on time and schedule annual physicals,’ Ms Meltzer
said. ‘Yet the role of marital satisfaction and actual health is less
clear.’

She set out to examine the association between marital satisfaction and changes in weight over time.

For four years, some 169 first-time newlyweds reported twice a year on
their marital satisfaction and steps toward divorce. They also reported
their height and weight, which was used to calculate their body mass
indices.

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Spouses who were less happy in their marriage were more likely to
consider leaving their partner, she said, and on average gained less
weight over time. ‘So these findings suggest that people perhaps are
thinking about their weight in terms of appearance rather than health,’
she added.

Ms Meltzer, said the study suggested that young couples should be
educated and encouraged to think about their weight as a factor of
maintaining their health.

She added: ‘We know that weight gain can be associated with a variety of
negative health consequences, for example diabetes and cardiovascular
disease.

‘By focusing more on weight in terms of health implications as opposed
to appearance implications, satisfied couples may be able to avoid
potentially unhealthy weight gain over time in their marriages.’

The SMU study is published online in the journal Health Psychology.

A September 2012 survey in the UK echoed Ms Meltzer’s findings – 46 per
cent of women surveyed gained weight as a result of a happy
relationship, while 27 per cent of women lost weight as a result of a
break-up.

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