Deciding to get a divorce can mean some real changes. Time with the children may be split between both parents, and one or both spouses may end up living in a new home. However, aside from these common examples that many think of when talking about divorce, it turns out that for men divorce could also mean weight gain.
Recently researchers from a state university analyzed a sampling of 10,000 men and women from 1986 to 2008. During that time their marriage statuses and weights were tracked.
From there it was determined that men were 63 percent more likely than non-married men to gain weight in the two years following a divorce. For women, the risk to gain after a divorce was only about half of that percentage when compared to men.
In addition, it was also found that age seemed to play a role and that those who divorced after the age of 30 had an increased chance of also gaining weight after a divorce, and that the risk continued to increase the older a person was at the time of divorce.
However, what is interesting to note about the study is that researchers found that for women, the risk of gaining weight was actually higher following a marriage, while for men getting married did not seem to have any real significance on their likelihood to gain weight.
And while the researchers in the study did not collect data from the 10,000 men and women about why there was a marital status change, sources point to the fact that weight gain for men following a divorce may be more likely because their spouse is no longer there to monitor their eating and lifestyle choices.
Sources also point to the possibility that women tend to gain after a marriage as taking care of the home may take away from time that used to be used for exercise.
Source: msnbc, “Women gain weight after marriage, men after divorce,” Rachael Rettner, Aug. 22, 2011
