Marriage triples the risk of obesity in men but does not affect women, according to research. Global obesity rates have more than doubled since 1990, and more than 2.5 billion adults and children are overweight or obese, The Guardian writes.

Globally, more than half of adults and a third of children are predicted to be overweight or obese by 2050.

While poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, genetics, environmental toxins and co-morbidities are known to increase risk, scientists from the National Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw wanted to investigate whether other factors also matter.

The scientists looked at the medical data and general health of 2,405 people whose average age was 50. Statistical analysis was used to establish a link between weight gain and age, marital status, mental health and other factors.

The study, presented this year at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, found that married men were 3.2 times more likely to be obese than unmarried men, but married women did not have an increased risk of obesity. Marriage also increases the likelihood of being overweight by 62% in men and 39% in women, the researchers found. The findings come after a study in China 2024 found that men's BMI increases during the first five years after marriage due to higher calorie intake and less physical activity. It turned out that getting married was associated with a 5.2% increase in overweight men and a 2.5% increase in obese men.