You really do put on weight in a relationship. A massive study has found that couples tend to have healthier lifestyles than single people, but that doesn’t stop them from piling on the pounds.
To investigate the links between relationship status and health, , at Central Queensland University in Australia, and her colleagues analysed a decade of survey data from over 15,000 volunteers. Each person had answered questions about their lifestyle choices, such as how active they were, how much fast food they ate, and how much time they spent watching television. In their analysis, the team accounted for variables that might affect a person’s responses, including their age, sex, employment status and level of education.
They found that couples and singles seem to do the same amount of physical activity, and watch similar amounts of television. But generally, people in relationships seemed to make other healthier lifestyle choices, says Schoeppe. Couples ate more fruit and vegetables and less fast food, they drank less alcohol, and they smoked less too.
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Eating occasions
Other studies have shown that if couples are happy with their relationship, they’re more likely to want to live healthier lifestyles because they want their relationship to last longer too, says , at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
But despite this, people in relationships were significantly more likely to be overweight. “It could be that couples are eating more of all food types together – both healthy fruits and vegetables, and sweets, desserts, or rich foods, which increases the likelihood of being overweight,” says Berge. “This may be because social behaviour in marriage commonly revolves around eating occasions.”
“When couples don’t need to look attractive and slim to attract a partner, they may feel more comfortable in eating more, or eating more foods high in fat and sugar,” says Schoeppe. “When couples have children in the household, they tend to eat the children’s leftovers or snacks.”
“How long you’ve been in the relationship for probably matters,” says , at University College London. Past research has found that couples are more likely to be overweight or obese if they are married or have been living together .
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Better advice
Relationship status also seems to affect men and women differently. Heilmann’s has shown that single men who have divorced or separated from a partner are more than twice as likely to drink heavily as men still in relationships. But there is no such link between divorce and alcohol in women.
Schoeppe hopes that understanding how relationship status affects health might help health practitioners give the best advice to people who want to live more healthily. “When we look at interventions, we traditionally look at education, age and gender, but we less often look at relationship status,” she says. “I think families and relationships play an important role in lifestyle choices. You’re a closed unit and can easily influence each other – so we have to consider that too.”
Heilmann would like to see further research on exactly what it is about relationships that encourages people to make healthier lifestyle choices – and whether this might apply to non-romantic relationships, like friendships or family, too. “We can’t tell people to get married, but we could encourage people to meet others,” she says.
PLoS One
