It turns out that the myth that marriage fattens is true. But only for men

There is a preconceived and quite widespread idea that relates marriage to accumulating kilos. Well now a group of researchers has contrasted that this prejudice with respect to the marriage union is correct. Or at least correct.

An unequal effect. A new study has observed that the risk of obesity increases significantly in men after marriage. It triples, in fact. The same study, however, did not find a significant change in this probability in the case of women. Of course, the risk of developing overweight did increase in both groups.

The results must still be interpreted with some caution because the details of the study have not yet passed the scrutiny of peer review and publication in a scientific journal. Those responsible for the work will be presented by this spring in the 32nd European Congress on Obesity that will be held in Malaga in May.

Why do we get fat? The question of why we get fat can have many answers. The simplest is that our body absorbs more calories than it burns, so stores energy in the form of fat.

However, this is only part of the story: there are many genetic, environmental or socioeconomic factors that we know are, the less, correlated with our risk of developing overweight or obesity throughout our lives. Little by little we verify that marriage is one of them.

3.2 times higher risk. The study indicated that marriage multiplied by 3.2 the risk of men to develop obesity, while the effect of this union was not significant in the case of women. The risk analysis to develop overweight showed a less marked difference.

The team responsible for the study observed A 62% increase in the risk of overweight in the case of men. A risk that in the case of women stayed at 39%.

Multiple factors. The study analyzed other factors linked to this relationship, which showed other connections of interest. It was thus observed that some factors affected the risk of obesity in the case of women. For example, depression caused the risk to be folded, while lack of health in terms of health also increased risk in women by 43%.

This type of factors and interconnections helps us understand what is happening behind the data. Even so, the hypotheses are diverse (and complementary). For example, Less physical activity by men And social pressure in the case of women can help us understand the unequal phenomenon.

“Research also suggests that men may have greater propensity to gain weight after marriage due to factors such as an increase in portions, social meals, and a decrease in physical activity; while women may remain more aware of weight due to social pressures ” He pointed to the British newspaper The Guardian Katharine Jenner, director of Obesity Health Alliance.

Also age of age. Another important factor to take into account was that of age, as it could foresee. The study showed that age affected the probability of developing overweight and obesity, and that in this case the effect was greater in women than in men. Thus, for example, the risk of obesity increased by 3% per year in the case of men and 4% per year in the case of women.

Understanding the context. Understanding the effect of factors such as marriage can help us develop more effective policies to address obesity and overweight, with the ultimate goal of addressing public health problems such as the increase in some non -transmissible diseases for which obesity and overweight are risk factors.

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Image | Jeremy Wong