The Woman’s Own columnist has her say on millennials, pets and wedded bliss…
DAWN NEESOM
DOES MARRIAGE REALLY CAUSE WEIGHT GAIN?
Apparently so, but not for the sex you might think…
Women. We’re not perfect are we, ladies? We make mistakes. Just be blowed if I can work out why so many of us end up marrying them!
Oh, come on, the old jokes are the best. And, let’s be honest, we’ve had to put up with the fellas sniggering over that ancient: ‘What’s one food that reduces a woman’s sex drive by 90%? Wedding cake!’ for blooming years.
Sadly for the boys though it’s not cake that has a detrimental effect on us – it’s them! Because new research has revealed that wedding cake causes men to swell in probably the one way no new bride wants… in the tummy!
Sorry but getting your hot hunk up the aisle is likely to turn him into Mr Blobby.
Let’s be honest we’ve always known that men tend to become fatter and lazier after marriage but now a group of proper scientist types have proven us right!
A study from China published in Economics and Human Biology (I’m a regular subscriber, obviously…) has found that marriage has a ‘significant effect’ on BMI, which measures a person’s healthy weight – with an extra 5.2% of men becoming overweight after marriage and obesity rates increasing by 2.5%.
Shiwen Quan of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences explained: ‘This phenomenon, referred to as “happy fat”, has been substantiated by numerous short studies conducted in Western countries.’
He goes on to add the men are facing a significant risk of obesity – and type 2 diabetes – as they age, so after marriage, it’s important they don’t ‘let themselves go’ by maintaining healthy eating habits and exercising regularly.
In contrast, there is no clear trend for female BMI after marriage, which is strange as you would have thought the ‘nesting’ effect – where you snuggle on the settee rather than hitting the town – would affect both sexes’ weight. Not so, according to the boffins.
But it’s not all bad news. There’s plenty of research to show that marriage improves the body’s inflammatory process and the way it reacts to illness, injury or disease.
A recent study found that married people have higher odds of surviving a heart attack. Other research has linked marriage with a lower risk of developing cancer and being diagnosed with dementia.
Marrie
