How living together can make you overweight

Published on Thursday 11 June 2009 20:48

GETTING married or moving in with a partner will make you fat, new research has suggested.

Couples who live together pile on the pounds much faster than people in relationships who stay in separate homes.

The study, to be published next month in the journal Obesity, found married people of either sex were more than twice as likely to become obese, while women living with a partner faced a 63 per cent increased risk. Oddly, men cohabiting suffered no increased risk

The research also showed the risk of obesity rises the longer people live together.

Penny Gordon-Larsen, associate professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, found some positive health benefits to marriage, including decreased cigarette smoking and lower mortality.

But she added: "We also see greater weight gain than in others of the same age, and greater risk of obesity.

"Maybe the cause of weight gain is not just age, but the pressure of shifting behaviours that result in weight gain."

She said people cohabiting – married or not – tended to eat meals together, possibly cooking bigger portions, or eat out more often than they did when single.

And they were more likely to watch TV together instead of going to the gym or playing sport. Couples who lived together for over two years – especially those who were married – were most likely to display similar obesity patterns and physical behaviours.

Prof Gordon-Larsen added: "Couples can use that phenomenon to their advantage if they're aware of what's going on. They can be good influences on each other. That may be how they can avoid the extra pounds now associated with marriage."