A healthy romantic relationship could have a hugely positive effect on our overall wellbeing.
After all, there’s nothing more stimulating than having by your side a person who loves you, supports you and is ready to help you.
However, despite the advantages of being in a relationship, there’s one significant problem.
Staying in a relationship for a long time could lead to gaining weight a study claims.
The research was carried out at the University of Queensland in Australia. The scientists who conducted it assessed 15000 people. 3/4 of them had a romantic relationship at the time of the research.
The participants had to provide information about their lifestyle. More specifically, they had to say how active they were, if they ate much junk food and how often they watched TV.
The study aimed to find out if the fact that someone had a long-term relationship could spoil their healthy lifestyle.
The analysis encompassed information that had been gathered for nearly ten years.
After analyzing all the data, the researchers concluded the following. The happy couples weighed 5.8kg more than the single participants. In fact, the partners in long-term relationships gained about 1.8 kg a year according to the results.
One of the reasons for that was frequent family meals. Another thing was that although couples consumed more healthy foods and not that much junk food they had bigger portions when they ate together. That caused increased calory intake and consequently made them gain weight.
Another problem of living with a significant other was that the partners sometimes shared the same unhealthy habits.
For instance, many couples spent time eating, watching TV, or drinking alcohol together.
Another important finding was that couples who ate healthier food like fruit and vegetables wouldn’t drink or smoke too much. Yet the ones who had long term partners tended to be less interested in whether they’d gained weight. The reason, of course, was that they weren’t searching for love. So their attractiveness seemed not to be a priority.
The leading scientist Dr. Stephanie Schoeppe confirmed that if people didn’t seek to attract a mate, they would feel free to eat foods containing a lot of fat and sugar. And things could become even worse if there were children in the family. The reason was that parents tended to eat their kids’ leftovers which is unhealthy.
Finally, it’s important to say that having a partner doesn’t mean it’s OK to neglect our body and weight. So instead of eating in front of the TV, we could play a sport together with the person we love.
