Study finds married men are three times more likely to become obese

Marriage may bring love and companionship, but it also appears to come with a greater risk of obesity — especially for men. A new study suggests that men who are married are 3.2 times more likely to become obese compared to their unmarried counterparts.

While both men and women tend to gain weight after marriage, the study found that the risk of being overweight was 39 per cent higher for women and 62 per cent higher for men than for unmarried individuals. However, the most striking difference was in obesity rates, where married men faced a significantly higher risk than single men.

Researchers from Poland’s National Institute of Cardiology believe the difference in obesity rates between men and women may be linked to social stigma and self-perception. Lead researcher Dr Alicja Cicha-Mikolajczyk suggests that women are more likely to take action to lose weight because obesity in women is more heavily stigmatised in society.

“Women may find it harder to accept living with obesity and are therefore more likely to try and reduce their weight,” she explained.

In the UK, the NHS classifies a person as obese if their body mass index (BMI) is above 30, while a BMI of 25-30 is considered overweight. However, BMI has been criticised as an overly simplistic measure, as it does not account for factors such as muscle mass and body composition.

The study, which analysed data from 2,405 Polish adults (typically aged 50), found that getting older also increases the risk of weight gain. Each additional year of age raised the risk of being overweight by 3 per cent in men and 4 per cent in women, while the risk of obesity increased by 4 per cent in men and 6 per cent in women.

Interestingly, the study found that depression and poor health knowledge significantly increased the risk of obesity in women, but this pattern was not observed in men.

The researchers concluded that both age and marital status have a clear impact on the likelihood of becoming overweight or obese in adulthood, regardless of gender. They also highlighted the importance of health education and awareness, suggesting that improving knowledge about obesity and lifestyle choices could help combat rising obesity rates.

These findings will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Spain this May.