Apparently, Getting Married Means Getting Fat

A study released on Monday by the Obesity Society, a group of weight-loss scientists and professionals, claims that newly married men and women gain 6 to 9 more pounds than peers who are single and dating, reports USA Today. (Young adults gain "a significant" amount of weight no matter what — in their late teens and early twenties, men and women add an average of 15 to 30 pounds.) Penny Gordon-Larsen, assistant professor of nutrition in the school of public health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill followed almost 8,000 people, ages 12 to 28, for five years — and a subsample of 1,200 couples. She and her colleagues found that single women in their teens and early 20s gained an average of 15 pounds over five years; their male counterparts added about 24 pounds. Newly married women in that age group, however, gained 24 pounds over five years and the men gained 30. Says Ms. Gordon-Larsen: "When people are dating, there may be more incentive to be thin." Yeah, you think?

Anyway, on the one hand, isn't it kind of wonderful that finding a partner means settling into a comfort zone where 30 pounds means nothing? On the other hand, what's with all the single people keeping their weight down, just until they meet someone they can get chubby with? And if you're already carrying a little extra weight, would you rather stay single than get married knowing you're just going to get heavier?

Gain A Spouse And You'll Likely Gain Some Pounds, Too [USA Today]

Send an email to Dodai, the author of this post, at dodai@jezebel.com.

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