Can Marriage Really Effect Your Physical Health?

When men and women are single and interested in being in the dating circuit, typically most want to present themselves at their physical best. They eat the right foods at the right times, work out at least once a week, and don’t always give in to their vices because it’s convenient. After all it’s been shown that when you look your best, you feel your best.

New studies are showing that those that are single may be more physically fit than most that are married. A research group, that followed close to 9,000 adults over a period of several years, found that married men and women who became married in that time took a slight dip when it came to cardiovascular fitness as shown by treadmill tests.

These findings, reported by the American Journal of Epidemiology, do not necessarily prove that the change in marital status leads directly to the cause of change in fitness lifestyle. However they do support that once men and women tend to stray from the dating market and on to the married side, they tend to let themselves go a little bit. Not to say that the difference is drastically large, however there is enough data to argue the point.

Lead researcher Dr. Fransisco B. Ortega, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweeden told Reuters Health in an email that one’s personal fitness depends on quite a complex mix of factors. The most common being genetics, exercise habits, body composition and overall health. However he also stated that if the newlywed couple became aware that their physical fitness could wane that they might pay more attention to keeping up an exercise and nutrition routine.

What does any of this mean to you? Well if you are soon to be married, married, or just have a pulse in general, it would not hurt to have and stick to a plan when it comes to your health regardless of your marriage status.

So on that note, we wish a happy and healthy 2011 to you!

* SOURCE: http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/us_marriage_fitness Yahoo! Health, online December 17, 2010.

* SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/rez62r American Journal of Epidemiology, online December 1, 2010.