Married men more likely to be obese than singles

已婚男性比单身男性更易肥胖

It is sometimes said that people let themselves go after getting married and settling down. In what might perhaps come as no surprise to many wives, new research suggests that this is indeed the case — but only when it comes to men.

人们常说，人们在结婚安定下来后就会放任自我。对于许多妻子而言，一项新的研究结果或许并不令人意外——事实确实如此，但仅限于男性。

Married men were found to be three times more likely to be obese than single men, while experts found no link between marriage and obesity rates in women.

研究发现，已婚男性肥胖的可能性是单身男性的三倍，而专家并未发现婚姻与女性肥胖率之间存在关联。

The study, based on couples in Poland, suggests that giving up a bachelor lifestyle takes a toll on men's waistlines. They become lazier and more unhealthy. Although women tended to put on a bit of weight after tying the knot, there was no significant difference in obesity rates between unmarried and married women.

这项基于波兰夫妇的研究表明，放弃单身生活会对男性的腰围造成影响。他们会变得更懒惰、更不健康。尽管女性在结婚后体重往往会略有增加，但未婚女性和已婚女性的肥胖率并无显著差异。

Experts said this was because married women are under more pressure to keep fit and maintain their figures, as "cultural differences" mean they face greater discrimination if they become obese.

专家表示，这是因为已婚女性面临着保持健康和维持身材的更大压力，因为“文化差异”意味着，如果她们变得肥胖，将面临更大的歧视。

Dr Alicja Cicha-Mikolajczyk, the study's author, from the National Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw, concluded that marriage has an "undeniable impact" on rates of obesity.

该研究的作者、华沙国家心脏病学研究所的艾丽西亚·西哈-米科拉伊奇克博士得出结论，婚姻对肥胖率有着“不可否认的影响”。

Women are more likely to go to the gym or exercise if they begin piling on the pounds, she said. "The attitude of society towards women living with obesity is different compared to men — they are more often stigmatised. We assume that women … cannot accept living with obesity and they are more likely than men to take various actions to lose weight."

她表示，如果女性开始发胖，她们更有可能去健身房或进行锻炼。“社会对肥胖女性的态度与对男性的态度不同——她们更容易受到歧视。我们认为，女性……无法接受肥胖的生活，她们比男性更有可能采取各种行动来减肥。”

The study, to be presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain, looked at 2,405 adults in Poland with an average age of 50. In total, 26 per cent were obese — a similar rate to the UK — and married men were 3.2 times more likely to be obese than unmarried men.

这项将在今年西班牙马拉加举行的欧洲肥胖大会上公布的研究，对波兰2405名平均年龄为50岁的成年人进行了调查。总体而言，26%的人肥胖——这一比例与英国相似——而已婚男性肥胖的可能性是未婚男性的3.2倍。

Experts believe that single men have a greater incentive to stay in shape while seeking to impress new partners but that these healthy habits slip upon entering a committed relationship. Marriage can also lead to more social occasions involving richer foods and regular shared meals.

专家认为，单身男性在寻求给新伴侣留下深刻印象时，有更大的动力保持身材，但这些健康习惯在进入稳定关系后就会逐渐消失。婚姻还可能导致更多的社交场合，涉及更丰富的食物和定期的共享餐食。

Lifestyle changes associated with becoming a parent have also been linked to weight gain, as fathers may have less time to go to the gym and get into the habit of finishing off their children's food.

与为人父母相关的生活方式变化也与体重增加有关，因为父亲们可能没有太多时间去健身房，还养成了吃孩子剩饭的习惯。

While marriage may be bad for the waistline, evidence shows that in general it is good for health, particularly the heart. Marriage helps people to be active and less lonely in old age, while having a spouse also encourages people to take medicine, exercise and cut down on unhealthy habits.

虽然婚姻可能对腰围不利，但有证据表明，总体而言，婚姻对健康有益，尤其是对心脏有益。婚姻有助于人们在老年时保持活跃、减少孤独感，而拥有配偶也会鼓励人们服药、锻炼并减少不健康习惯。

Research into the health impact of marriage has consistently highlighted other differences between the sexes. For example, men's health is more severely affected by losing their wives than women are by losing their husbands.

对婚姻健康影响的研究一直强调两性之间的其他差异。例如，与女性失去丈夫相比，男性失去妻子对健康的影响更为严重。