Married Men Are 3 Times More Likely to Be Obese, Study Warns (image/freepik)

Obesity is a growing global health concern influenced by various lifestyle and demographic factors. A recent study highlights the significant impact of marriage and aging on weight gain, revealing that married individuals, particularly men, face a higher risk of becoming obese compared to their unmarried counterparts. That’s right. Being married increases the risk of becoming obese three times, according to new research.

The risks for being overweight increased for both married men and women by nearly 62 percent and 39 percent, respectively, compared to those who are unmarried.

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The chances of married men being obese were observed to be 3.2 times more than compared to unmarried men. Interestingly enough, no such link was found for married women when compared to unmarried women.

Researchers stated that the lack of such a link could be due to cultural differences in attitudes towards obesity in men and women.

Notably, the study found that getting older also increases the likelihood of being obese for both men and women.

The research, led by Dr. Alicja Cicha-Mikolajczyk from the National Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland, will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Spain in May.

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Data was taken for 2,945 people from the Multi-Centre National Population Health Examination Survey. Based on couples in Poland, the participants were around 50. While 35.3 percent had normal weight, 38.3 percent were in the overweight category, while 26.4 percent were identified as obese.

The study found that nearly 55 percent of the group had adequate health literacy while 50 percent had moderate social support (frequency of contact with family, friends, and relatives). Around 15 percent reported depression.

While every passing year increased the risk of being overweight by 3 percent in men, the number stood at 4 percent for women. The risk of being obese stood at 4 percent in men and 6 percent in women, as per the study.

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The study found that for women with inadequate health literacy, the risk of obesity increased 43 percent; reporting at least borderline depression doubled the risk of obesity. This link was not found in men.

“Age and marital status have an undeniable impact on living with overweight or obesity in adulthood regardless of sex… 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,” concluded the study.