Get a grip, chaps, women go for men with strong hands

WOMEN prefer to marry men who have a strong grip, a study has revealed.

Researchers discovered that the sturdier the grip, the more likely that the man was married. The same correlation was not found with women.

Manual strength is an established measure of health and has been linked to the ability to cope independently and predict the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The findings came from researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Columbia Aging Center, who discovered the marital benefits of a stronger grip.

Researchers studied a population of more than 5,000 adults from the Norwegian city of Tromsø to examine the relationship of marital status to hand strength.

The study contained two successive groups of people – those born between 1923-35 and 1936-48, and assessed grip strength when respondents were aged 59 to 71.

In the tests, using data matched with the Norwegian national death registry, hand grip strength was assessed using a vigorimeter – a device that asks participants to squeeze a rubber balloon. The researchers found greater numbers of unmarried men with low grip strength in the second group – those born 1936-48, than in the earlier group.

These findings were said to be influenced by societal trends that have increasingly de-emphasised the importance of marriage.

Vegard Skirbekk, study author and a professor at the Columbia Aging Center, said: “Our results hint that women may be favouring partners who signal strength and vigour when they marry. If longer-lived women marry healthier men, then both may avoid or defer the role of care-giver, while less healthy men remain unmarried and must look elsewhere for assistance.”

Grip strength is particularly important for older adults and has implications for a host of health risks – heart disease, physical mobility, the capacity to be socially active and healthy, and to enjoy a good quality of life.

The results, which also stressed the health benefits of marriage and companionship, was published online in the journal Ssm-population Health.