Study: People Who Live Alone Are Thinner Than Those Who Cohabitate
Considering moving in with your girlfriend or boyfriend? Er, a new study may have you thinking twice. It found that people who live alone tend to have lower body weights than those who live with a partner.
The good news is, the weight difference isn’t huge: The study found that those who live alone weigh, on average, about three pounds less than their cohabitating counterparts. The extra weight did mess with the coupled subjects’ BMIs, however, by pushing them higher, which Science of Us notes is “linked to chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancers, and, ultimately, higher rates of mortality.” (Still, let us not forget the controversy surrounding ye olde body mass index.)
To arrive at this conclusion, a researcher at Western Washington University culled through 20 years of data that tracked 3,000 people to see how relationship status — and, therefore, living arrangements — impacted body weight. Interestingly, after breakups and divorce, he found that people experienced short-term weight loss, probably due to stress. But on the whole, those living with a partner averaged an extra three pounds compared to those who lived alone. The researcher, sociologist Jay Teachman, says it’s likely because couples who live together, cook and eat together — i.e. eating is more of a shared activity than simply a means of fueling one’s body.
To which we say: Just mine our extensive archive of healthy, nutritious recipes and you’ll be a-okay.
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