It's becoming a norm for a woman to gain weight after marriage.
She used to be very slim, and her friends used to call her lepa (a slim person). In fact, the maximum weight she recorded before she got married was 35kg, even at 32 years, and by hereditary, she didn’t look like someone who would likely grow fat because her parents and siblings had similar stature and outlook. But, soon after she got married, the story changed.
To the amazement of many, someone who used to be like a broomstick is now robust. Not only did she add weight, it became so obvious that some people thought she might have taken some pills, and anyone who never knew her would easily assume that she has always been fat.
This story is similar to what many newlyweds experience, especially women. Apart from the attendant weight addition that comes with pregnancy, studies have shown that women, more than men, are likely to experience weight gain after wedding.
The question then is "why do women add more weight after wedding?" There have been many explanations for this, ranging from change in lifestyle, feeding habits and other factors, while some people also argue that semen deposit, occasioned by increased sexual intercourse, could make the woman add weight. The proponents of the latter theory argue that there are certain ingredients in the sperm that could make a woman add weight.
But, in a study by the Ohio State University in the United States, the researchers, who sought to know whether marital change (marriage and divorce) have any effect on weight gain, examined about 10,000 men and women aged between 14 and 22 between 1986 and 2008, to measure their weight gain in the two years after their marriage or divorce.
The participants were asked to comment about their health and noticeable weight changes yearly between the time they got married and about two years after marriage.
The examining showed that women are more likely to put on weight after marriage, while men are more likely to add weight after a divorce. Suprised? The researchers explained that there is an established relationship between weight and life events.
It was discovered that apart from lifestyle, habits, diet and physical activity, women tend to have less time to exercise so as to keep fit, whilst eating well. They found out that women tend to focus on taking care of their husbands than focussing on themselves, noting that men who are divorcees tend to add more weight largely because of their lifestyle.
The researchers, sociology professor, Zhenchao Qian, and his doctoral student, Dmitry Tumin, said, “Clearly, the effect of marital transitions on weight changes differs by gender. Divorces for men and, to some extent, marriages for women promote weight gains that may be large enough to pose a health risk if unchecked.
“Women may tend to eat more and exercise less after getting married because of the stress of starting a family and maintaining a household, coupled with the more duties they have around the house than men, which also deprive them of time to exercise.
“Marital transitions have an impact on people. There is a shock to these events, and our research shows that men and women deal with them differently. While women are more likely to add weight after marriage, men are more likely to add weight after a divorce because, for example, the wife who forces him to eat green food and helps him to stay off some drinks, is no longer there, giving room for unguided living and feeding style.
“For women in the mid-20s, there is not much of a difference in the probability of gaining weight between someone who just got married and someone who has not married. But later in life, there is much more of a difference. Thus, we found the effects to be strongest among those who were 30 or older at the time they married or divorced.
The researchers found that women are likely to be fatter after marriage because they tend to care less about their appearance unlike when they didn’t have a husband. They note that once women find their kind of man and they end up being married, the motivating factor for keeping in shape tends to drop.
A marriage educator and management consultant, Patty Newbold, on quora.com, observed that many women enjoy cooking for their mates and that they are more likely to eat more than they did before they got married.
Dr. Asha Jain a gynaecologist says when people get married, the comfort of being in a relationship and the associated sense of security make people to add weight. She advises that newlyweds who do not want to add weight after marriage to exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.
Commenting on the study, a medical practitioner, Dr. Rotimi Adesanya, notes that though there is no basic medical explanation for the weight gain after wedding, it could be attributed to the settled state of mind at that point in time.
“It is believed that once there is peace, the body tends to work well, and even those who don’t eat much ordinarily are likely to eat more, which is also applicable to men, and in the process, adding weight. But, there is no medical explanation that sexual intercourse or semen has a role to play in the weight gain,” he said.
Also, a consultant endocrinologist, Dr. Michael Olamoyegun, explained that for both men and women, weight gain sometimes come with age even though it tends to go down again, say after 50 years of age.
He added, “Beyond that, most of the hormones responsible for pregnancy are anabolic (associated with weight gain) in nature. So, when they get pregnant, they add weight and most people don’t lose that weight even after pregnancy. Also, some women in this part of the world see weight gain as a sign of affluence.”
He also said that there is no scientific explanation to support the claim that sex or semen could make a woman add weight. He added, “There are no studies to show that, and they are not related. The number of times a woman has sex has nothing to do with her weight. As an expert, I can tell you that there is nothing in sperm that could make a woman add weight.”
To most women, marriage is like a war. They take years preparing for it (keeping fit), immediately the wedding is gone, it could be like winning a war, coupled with the relaxation that comes with being victorious. It’s a time of relaxation, because all the fears and energy-sapping thoughts associated with getting a husband and wedding would have gone, which make them relaxed and put on weight.
Watch yourself, your body is all you have after all. Take care of it and stay in shape.
