MARRIED people enjoy many health benefits — they live longer, have stronger bones and are less likely to have a heart attack — but new research shows they’re more likely to be carrying around a few extra kilos.
A study examining more than 10,000 people in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain and the UK found that the average married person has a higher BMI than the average single person.
The researchers discovered the average single man had a BMI of 25.7 and the average married man had a BMI of 26.3. The average single lady had a BMI of 25.1, while the average married woman had a BMI of 25.6.
According to the World Health Organisation, a healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 25.
While married people were more likely to purchase organic and unprocessed foods, they paid “less attention to dietary convenience or dietary fat and body weight,” the study said.
Married men also exercised less than their single counterparts.
The research supports the ‘Married Market Hypothesis’ — the idea that once we settle into a long-term relationship there’s less incentive to fuss over our looks and lose weight.
But the study’s lead author Jutta Mata from the University of Basel says that’s just a theory and the research doesn’t show a direct link between marriage and being overweight.
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