Married men are three times as likely to be obese

Being married triples the risk of obesity in men, according to new research.

A study of couples in Poland found married men were 3.2 times more likely to be obese than unmarried men.

But there was no such link for women regardless of their marital status.

Researchers did find that both sexes tended to be heavier when married, with the risk of being overweight rising by 62 per cent among husbands and 39 per cent among wives.

The authors of the study said that getting older also increased the risk of being overweight, while there were possible cultural differences in the attitudes towards obesity in men and women.

Dr Alicja Cicha-Mikolajczyk, of the National Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw, led the study.

Her research team concluded that “age and marital status have an undeniable impact” on weight.

“The attitude of society towards women living with obesity is different compared to men – they are more often stigmatised,” she said.

“We assume that women accept life with overweight, but they cannot accept living with obesity and they are more likely than men to take various actions to lose weight, such as increased physical activity, and even returning to smoking tobacco.”

The study looked at 2,405 people. They were aged 50 on average and 35.3 per cent had normal weight, 38.3 per cent were overweight, and 26.4 per cent were obese.

The authors also found that more than double the proportion of obese participants had heart disease compared with those of a normal weight.

The authors found most of the respondents had at least secondary education (59 per cent), an adequate health literacy (55 per cent), and at least moderate social support (50 per cent), while 15 per cent of them reported depression. Cardiovascular disease was present in 12 per cent, 18 per cent, and 28 per cent of people with normal weight, overweight and obesity, respectively.

Age becomes risk factor

And they found that age was in of itself a risk factor, increasing each year regardless of their sex. The risk of being overweight grew by 3 per cent for every year older a man was, and 4 per cent in women. Similarly, every year older a man was, the risk of obesity was up 4 per cent, and in women it rose by 6 per cent.

People were asked questions regarding their knowledge about health, any depression and social support, such as the frequency of contact with family, friends and relatives.

The questionnaire revealed that 45 per cent of the respondents did not have adequate health literacy, and women in this cohort were 43 per cent more likely to be obese.

Similarly, among the 15 per cent of participants who reported that they were depressed, the women affected had double the risk of obesity. These trends were not found in men.

The research will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Spain in May.

The findings emerged after another study concluded that more than three in four adults in the UK will be obese or overweight by 2050.

The study published in the Lancet medical journal last week predicted that the proportion of obese children and adults in the UK would rise substantially over the next 25 years.

The most comprehensive analysis to date by academics at the University of Washington predicted that 77 per cent of adults in Great Britain and Northern Ireland would be overweight or obese by 2050.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, previously told The Telegraph that “widening waistbands” were costing the NHS £11 billion a year and holding back economic growth.

Obesity is also the second biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK.

In 2021, 65 per cent of adults in the UK were overweight or obese.

The Lancet study predicted that by 2050, some 22 million men in the UK aged 25 and over will be in that category – 80 per cent of the male population. For women, the prediction is 21 million – about 74 per cent.

It would mean that fewer than one in every four adults in the UK could be considered a healthy weight.

The research predicted the UK would have the third largest population of overweight adults among high-income countries, behind only the USA and Germany.