DOES LIVING TOGETHER MAKE COUPLES FAT?

Until recently, it was assumed that marriage was the reason for postmarital weight gain. But after spending 16 years studying some 20,000 people, researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Human Development have concluded that men and women, married or not, put on weight from the moment they start living together. Why? Living together leads to changes in eating habits, and people tend to consume more calories. When couples separate, their body shape tends to return to its pre-cohabitational form. That is in line with the so-called “marriage-market hypothesis,” which predicts that people who are looking for a partner try to weigh less, which is perceived to be more attractive, say the researchers. Nevertheless: Couples tend to live longer than single people, even if they weigh more.