Married men are often fatter than their single counterparts – study

A new study has suggested that married men have a higher body mass index (BMI) than their single counterparts

There are a lot of good things about getting married, but a new study has found a possible downside to tying the knot for men.

The study, which was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Bath’s School of Management in the UK, looked at the how marriage, pregnancy, parenthood, and divorce had an effect on a man’s BMI in a ‘longitudinal setting’.

The study found that while men tended to gain more weight in a marriage, the opposite was true following a divorce when men were found to have a lower BMI.

“The study shows that married men have a higher BMI, but marital status changes largely drove this effect, namely, an increase in BMI in the period following marriage, a a decrease in BMI preceding and following divorce,” the study said.

Researchers looked at data from almost 9 000 men in the US over a 10-year period and found that the most significant weight gain that men experienced came after the birth of a child.

Study author Professor Joanna Sydra says that the study has further confirmed prior studies that have found a link between relationships and weight gain. She reckons that some of the reasons for this could be linked to the fact that a married man probably has more regular meals and has less of an incentive to put in extra effort into staying in shape.

“This study found evidence in support of the marriage market and social obligation theories’ predictions about male BMI and supports neither protection theory nor marriage selection theory,” researchers said.

“Wives’ pregnancies had no significant effect on BMI; instead, men tend to have higher BMI in the periods following childbirth. Finally, analyses shows marked contemporaneous correlations between husband and wife’s BMI over the course of marriage.”