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Married young adults put on more
weight than singles
27 October, 2007
Young adults who get married put on
more weight than their friends who are
single.
In a study, researchers at the
University of North Carolina, the
United States, followed around 8,000
teens and young adults for five years.
While all these teens and young adults
gained weight from 15 to 30 pounds,
married people gained 6 to 9 pounds
more than the singles.
The weight gain in this age group is
frightening, according to Penny
Gordon-Larsen, an assistant professor
of nutrition in the school of public
health at the University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Penny Gordon-Larsen has done other
research on that age group earlier and
found that the number of people who
become obese – 30 or more pounds over
a healthy weight – increases
significantly from the teens to young
adulthood.
The University of North Carolina study
confirms other research that shows
young adults are especially vulnerable
to putting on weight and that gaining
weight is “socially contagious.”
These findings of a study released at
the annual meeting of the Obesity
Society, which is a group of
scientists and professionals in the
field of weight-loss.
Natalie The, a researcher at the
University of North Carolina-Chapel
Hill, explains the phenomenon, “It
could be anything in the shared
household environment, or having a
child, or it could be the obligation
to eat together more, or it could be
now you have more obligations with
your partner that prevent you from
exercising.”
Or, it could also be that singles who
are dating have more incentive to
remain thin.
The researchers point out that, unlike
singles, couples have the power of
two. They can encourage each other,
influence each other, eat less and
work out together.
Another interesting finding of the
research is that women who lived with
a partner, but did not get married
gained more weight than singles, but
less than married couples. For men,
living together had no impact at all.
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