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 “Normal weight people whose spouses went from being normal weight to
obese were more likely to become obese,” said Laura Cobb, who led
the study as a researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
“This suggests that changes in one spouse are likely to also be
reflected in the other spouse, likely because of similar changes in
diet, physical activity or other behaviors that impact obesity,”
Cobb said by email.
Plenty of research already links marriage and weight gain, and
scientists have firmly established the connection between obesity
and heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.
What the current study adds is a fresh take on how couples may gain
weight in tandem, insight that might help shape more effective
obesity prevention and treatment efforts targeting couples, Cobb and
colleagues note in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Researchers followed almost 4,000 couples for up to 25 years,
starting between 1987 and 1989. After an initial exam, they had
three follow-up visits roughly three years apart, followed by a
fifth exam between 2011 and 2013.
At the start of the study, 23 percent of the men and 25 percent of
the women were obese.
Non-obese men whose wives became obese between visits in the study
were 78 percent more likely to become obese during that period than
they would have been had their wives not gained so much weight, the
study found.
Having a husband become obese was linked to an 89 percent increased
risk of developing obesity for their wives.
Not many people who started out obese lost enough weight to be
considered no longer obese, but when they did, their spouse was also
more likely to become non-obese.
Shortcomings of the study include the long stretch of time that
elapsed between the fourth and fifth exams and the large proportion
of people who died or left the study before the final visit, the
authors acknowledge.
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It’s not unusual for married couples to forge common habits over
time that influence their weight, said Ivanka Prichard, a weight
loss researcher at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.
“Over time, similarities in diet, particularly any unhealthy
aspects, may lead to weight changes,” Prichard, who wasn’t involved
in the study, said by email. “There are also a range of pressures in
life that could impact this such as having children, work, shared
health knowledge, time or finances.”
Like unhealthy habits, though, positive lifestyle choices can also
be contagious in a marriage, said Debra Umberson, director of the
Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
“When married people get in shape or lose weight, it’s often because
one spouse takes the lead and urges the other spouse along,”
Umberson, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “Even if
the person not taking the lead is resistant, over time they will
probably be influenced by the kinds of food and activities their
spouse is involved with – especially if the person taking the lead
is the one who purchases groceries or prepares meals.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1MeOCFv American Journal of Epidemiology,
online September 23, 2015.
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