Happily Married Life Makes You Fat According To Science

Yep you read right! Science, that squirrelly rascal that raises its eyebrows whenever you even so much as look at that next glass of red wine, has finally provided a lovely reason to  gain weight and the reason is… a happy marriage.

And there’s an actual study to back it up! Stephanie Schoeppe recently released the information on the relationship weight gain phenomenon. Stephanie is a Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Central Queensland University (which is a bit of a freakin’ mouthful itself eh… get it)

The study claims that the reason behind the weight gain amongst married couples is that, even though they eat meals more regularly with each other and typically eat healthier food, they have larger portions and therefore a higher calorie intake which leads to weight gain. Single people, on the other hand, are apparently more likely to skip meals and eat less – the study also suggests that couples may typically be more happy to gain weight as they are not trying to attract a mate. Which is sure to make people feel much better about their weight.

 

Speaking about the validity of the study, Schoeppe also said:

“Happy couples eat healthier but weigh more. This is the finding of our study which is consistent with other previous studies but not all. However, our study examined a large population sample — over 15,000 adults — hence our findings provide a significant insight into this topic.”

Quite frankly the study, in my very validated scientific opinion, comes yet again down to, the old rubric of ‘(insert thing that a large portion of the population has/does) makes you (insert a physiological condition that society considers not the norm/dangerous)’. I don’t need an extensive scientific study to tell me that because I’m happy in some way then that’s making me fat.

As nice as it may be to be able to chalk my weight up to my husband (preach), the information leaves me thinking, well, why do I really freakin’ care? I’m happy so is the answer to stop being happy? What do they want from us here?

The Fatherly article discussing the study also quotes psychologist Wyatt Fisher who states, in response to the studies findings:

“Couples should proactively discuss weight gain early in their relationship to see if it is a concern for either of them and why,” Fisher says. “If it is a concern, couples should discuss how to prevent it from happening, such as making healthy dinners and exercising together.”

which in layman’s terms means, ‘if you and your partner want to be healthier, then talk to each other about it and maybe try being healthier.’

The study is also vague on whether the weight gain that they talk about so frequently is linked to any health issues or whether the weight gain is still within a weight bracket that doesn’t impact on health as much as the phrase ‘weight gain’ sub-textually implies of its own natural implications. However, there are plans to investigate more extensively into the subject in the future.

Oh science, we have such larks. I say potato,  you say starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial nightshade – I say one more donut, you say no, think of the carcinogens. I mean I’m quite happy to chalk up my weight to a happy marriage for now, but the study doesn’t account for the stress that my ‘happy’ marriage causes me, which undermines the whole thing a bit I reckon.

What do you think of this? Will you be talking to your partner about your weight? Or just continuing to enjoy yourself ’cause we’re not here for freakin’ long and you just want to have fun and eat what you like?! AAx

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