Your trusted source

Married life curbs the extent to which people put on weight, researchers suggest.

Single adults are more likely to pile on the pounds in middle age than those who have found a spouse, the Daily Mail reports.

Scientists studied data from 150 overweight people in Greece.

They found that although those who were married were more likely to fall in an overweight category - with a body mass index between 30 and 35 - single people were more likely to be obese, with a BMI of more than 35.

The participants, who had an average age of 47, comprised 113 women and 40 men.

The team, from University Hospital AHEPA of Thessaloniki, Greece, suggest that those who fail to find a partner may fall into depression, increasing their risk of obesity.

As they put on weight, their self-esteem may fall, decreasing their chance of finding love.

Presenting their study at the European Congress on Obesity in Prague, the authors wrote: ‘Marital status seems to influence development of obesity both in men and women.

‘Self-perception of quality of life deteriorates as body weight increases, affecting the ability and/or the will of finding a partner. Although severely obese people are more likely to be unmarried, people in the other categories of obesity also have a high risk of being single.

‘A possible explanation could be the social and demographic characteristics of each person, such as educational level, which may play a crucial role in partner choice.

‘Additionally, literature indicates that co-existence of depression and associated disorders with morbid obesity may further have an impact on the choice of remaining single.’ Some 25 per cent of those studied had a BMI of 30 to 35, 33 per cent had a BMI of 35 to 40, and 42 per cent had a BMI of more than 40.

Around 60 per cent were married.

Two thirds of the married participants fell into the lowest ‘overweight’ category, while more than half of those in the highest ‘obese’ category were single.