Sarah Biren

Sarah Biren

January 23, 2024

Being in a Happy Relationship is Making You Fat, Scientist Confirms

This article was originally published on October 24, 2018, and has since been updated.


If you’re married or have been in a long-term relationship, someone over the years has probably half-joked about the weight gain they experienced in the first year or two (or ten). Some people chalk it up to routine, some say they eat (and snack) more, others stop going to the gym and cozy up to their comfortable routines. Whatever the reason, researchers wanted to know if relationship weight gain was a real thing – and apparently it is. Over the last few years, there have been two studies in particular suggesting that, yes, the thing(s) you love most in life will lead to extra pounds and love handles to prove it!

Can Marital Satisfaction Predict Weight Gain?

Overweight couple in sportswear together in park
Source: Shutterstock

Some believe it can, but others aren’t convinced. Earlier research seems to suggest that people who are satisfied in and with their relationships are generally healthier. In other words, happy wife, healthy life. Researchers call this the health regulation model. But, researchers from Southern Methodist University in Dallas joined 169 newlywed couples on their marital journeys for four years and found something quite the opposite. Over the course of the study, spouses shared information eight times about their: [1]

  • Height
  • Weight
  • Marital satisfaction
  • Stress
  • Steps toward divorce

In contrast to the health regulation model, something called the mating market model turned out to be truer of the couples’ weight gain.

Happy African American Couple
Source: Shutterstock

This model suggests that people who are less happy with their relationship are more likely to try to lose weight. Researchers say this is because they have a desire to attract a (new) mate. [1] Therefore, spouses that are satisfied with their relationship are actually less likely to watch their weight because they are aren’t looking to leave their partner – they’re happy and comfortable with how things have gone so far in their marriage.

“Satisfaction is positively associated with weight gain,” says lead researcher, Andrea Meltzer. [2]

Latin older adult couple shows their love and joy for life while enjoying the afternoon on a park bench in their retirement, calm because they fixed their finances
Source: Shutterstock

“Spouses who are more satisfied tend to gain more weight, and spouses who are less satisfied tend to gain less weight.” At the beginning of the study, husbands had a slightly overweight body-mass index (BMI) of 26 and wives had a healthy BMI of 23. “For each unit of increase in satisfaction found, either by the person or the partner, a 0.12 increase in BMI occurred every six months, on average,” said Meltzer. [2]

Happy in Marriage, Heavier on the Scale

Pigs - Weight gain meme

Another study spanning 10 years was published February 2018 in PLOS One and collected data from 15,001 Australians. [3] Researchers wanted to find out if people in relationships were more likely to gain weight (and potentially become overweight or obese) than individuals who were single. From a bird’s eye view, lead researcher Stephanie Schoeppe and her team found that single individuals had an average weight gain of 1.8 kg a year, whereas couples had an average 5.8 kg weight gain. [3] But, why is this the case?

What the Data Revealed

An overweight man and woman exercising

Interestingly, the data from 2005-2014 revealed that although couples smoke less, drink less alcohol, watch less television and eat less fast food than single people, couples still weighed more. Schoeppe also suggests that not having to date and constantly “look your best” may contribute to relationship weight gain. “When Couples don’t need to look attractive and slim to attract a partner, they may feel more comfortable in eating more, or eating more foods high in fat and sugar. When couples have children in the household, they tend to eat the children’s leftovers or snacks.” [4]

Factors that Determine Weight Gain in Couples

Beautiful smiling young couple dating and hugging while looking happy in front of a studio background
Source: Shutterstock

Of course, there are many factors that come into play when determining the cause of one’s weight gain – as a single person or a couple. This could include:

  • Stress
  • Eating and drinking habits
  • Amount of daily physical activity
  • Everyday habits (e.g., sit-down job, lots of television)

The Bottom Line

Overweight Couple On Diet Preparing Vegetables In Kitchen
Source: Shutterstock

Whatever may the root cause(s), it’s important for people – especially couples – to create an environment that helps foster a healthy lifestyle. It may seem challenging, but it will likely increase not only the longevity of your relationship, but your life.

Being in a happy relationship is making you fat - Cartoon Poster

Sources:

  1. [1] Meltzer, A. L., Novak, S. A., McNulty, J. K., Butler, E. A., & Karney, B. R. Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23477578
  2. Doheny, K. Happy in Marriage, Heavier on the Scale? Retrieved from https://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/marriage-health-news-462/happy-in-marriage-heavier-on-the-scale-672715.html
  3. Schoeppe, S., Vandelanotte, C., Rebar, A. L., Hayman, M., Duncan, M. J., & Alley, S. J. (n.d.). Do singles or couples live healthier lifestyles? Trends in Queensland between 2005-2014. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0192584
  4. Beres, D. Relationships really do lead to weight gain, study finds. Retrieved from https://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/being-in-a-relationship-really-does-lead-to-weight-gain-heres-why