Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Get a spouse and get some extra pounds too

Many married and single people in their late teens and early 20's add an average of 15 to 30 pounds to their weights over five years. But newly married men and women in the same group gain 6 to 8 more pounds than their peers who are single and dating (Via - USAToday).


Penny Gordon-Larsen, an assistant professor of nutrition in the school of public health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and her colleagues followed almost 8,000 people, ages 12 to 28, over five years and a subsample of 1,200 couples.


Some of the highlights of their findings include:



  • Women in their youth and in their early 20’s who continue to date but did not live together added an average of 15 pounds over the next 5 years. On the other hand, their male counterparts added about 24 pounds to their weights.

  • Newly married women in that age group packed on 24 pounds in five years; newly married men gained 30 pounds


According to Natalie The, who is a researcher at the University of Carolina says, single young adults have are least likely to be obese as they are more active and watch least amount of TV. According to Natalie, many factors like having children, post pregnancy pounds, getting small time to exercise, eating out more or cooking bigger meals contribute to couples weight.

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