Tag: Andrea L. Meltzer

Postmedia News reporter Misty Harris writes in The Vancouver Sun about the research of SMU psychologist Andrea L. Meltzer, who found that young couples who are satisfied with their marriage are more likely to gain weight, putting them at risk for various health problems associated with being overweight.

The article, “Does this happy marriage make me look fat?,” was published April 5.

Meltzer, lead researcher on the study, is an assistant professor in the SMU Department of Psychology.

The study’s researchers said the findings challenge the long-held notion that quality relationships are always beneficial to one’s health. Instead, they said, the findings suggest that spouses who are satisfied in the marriage are less motivated to attract an alternative mate. As a result, satisfied spouses relax efforts to maintain their weight.

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Andrea Meltzer in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News and Communications at 214-768-7650 or email SMU News at news@smu.edu.

Related links

• Andrea L. Meltzer
• SMU Department of Psychology
• Health Psychology: “Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage”
• Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

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The article, “Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage,” is published online in the scientific journal Health Psychology at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23477578.

The study was based on data from 169 first-married newlywed couples whose marital satisfaction and weight were tracked over the course of four years.

Read the Vancouver Sun article.

EXCERPT:

Misty Harris
Vancouver Sun
Marital bliss may bulk up your well-being but it also tips the scales when it comes to weight, according to a new four-year study.

Reporting in the journal Health Psychology, researchers find that relationship satisfaction is linked with an increase in body mass index over time. By contrast, when couples are less satisfied in their marriage, or even contemplating separation, they’re significantly less likely to incur the weight penalty of their happier counterparts.

“It’s pretty well-established that marriage is associated with weight gain, and divorce is associated with weight loss,” said Andrea Meltzer, assistant professor of psychology at Southern Methodist University in Texas. “But the extent to which satisfaction plays a role hasn’t been examined until now.”

The outcome of the study was uncertain from the start.

Prior research has found that satisfying relationships are actually helpful in promoting good health practices. But Meltzer notes that those studies focused more on behaviours – such as taking medication on time or getting an annual physical – than weight.

Literature on mating, meanwhile, has shown that weight-maintenance is motivated primarily by a desire to attract a partner. From this perspective, it makes sense that keeping svelte could be a function of dissatisfaction, and a desire to get back on the market.

Read the Vancouver Sun article.

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SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

Health reporter Laura Donnelly writes in London’s Telegraph about the research of SMU psychologist Andrea L. Meltzer, who found that young couples who are satisfied with their marriage are more likely to gain weight, putting them at risk for various health problems associated with being overweight.

The article, “Getting married makes you fat, say scientists,” was published April 5.

Meltzer, lead researcher on the study, is an assistant professor in the SMU Department of Psychology.

The study’s researchers said the findings challenge the long-held notion that quality relationships are always beneficial to one’s health. Instead, they said, the findings suggest that spouses who are satisfied in the marriage are less motivated to attract an alternative mate. As a result, satisfied spouses relax efforts to maintain their weight.

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Andrea Meltzer in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News and Communications at 214-768-7650 or email SMU News at news@smu.edu.

Related links

• Andrea L. Meltzer
• SMU Department of Psychology
• Health Psychology: “Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage”
• Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

More SMU Research news

Fruit flies fed organic diets are healthier than flies fed nonorganic diets, study finds

Center for Creative Leadership to study innovative learning method of SMU Lyle School of Engineering

Parenting program tackles child abuse and neglect among formerly homeless families

The article, “Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage,” is published online in the scientific journal Health Psychology at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23477578.

The study was based on data from 169 first-married newlywed couples whose marital satisfaction and weight were tracked over the course of four years.

Read The Telegraph article.

EXCERPT:

Laura Donnelly
The Telegraph
Couples in happy marriages are likely to pile on the pounds, a study claims.

The research involving more than 160 newly-wed couples found that the more content they were in their relationship, the more weight they gained.

Over four years, couples were regularly asked to rate their satisfaction with their marriage on a scale, while their weight and height were measured.

The study found that for each unit rise in satisfaction, on average, men and women gained one tenth of a BMI unit every six months — the equivalent of a pound a year for a woman who is 5ft 4 ins tall and weighs 8½ stone.

Researchers suggested that those who were happy with their partners might be less likely to worry about their figures, because they were not motivated to look elsewhere for love.

Dr Andrea Meltzer, of the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, said: “On average, spouses who were more satisfied with their marriage were less likely to consider leaving their marriage, and they gained more weight.

Read The Telegraph article.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

The New York Daily News covered the research of SMU psychologist Andrea L. Meltzer, who found that young couples who are satisfied with their marriage are more likely to gain weight, putting them at risk for various health problems associated with being overweight.

The article, “Does marriage make you fat? Happy newlyweds more likely to gain weight in first years of marriage,” was published April 5.

Meltzer, lead researcher on the study, is an assistant professor in the SMU Department of Psychology.

The study’s researchers said the findings challenge the long-held notion that quality relationships are always beneficial to one’s health. Instead, they said, the findings suggest that spouses who are satisfied in the marriage are less motivated to attract an alternative mate. As a result, satisfied spouses relax efforts to maintain their weight.

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Andrea Meltzer in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News and Communications at 214-768-7650 or email SMU News at news@smu.edu.

Related links

• Andrea L. Meltzer
• SMU Department of Psychology
• Health Psychology: “Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage”
• Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

More SMU Research news

Fruit flies fed organic diets are healthier than flies fed nonorganic diets, study finds

Center for Creative Leadership to study innovative learning method of SMU Lyle School of Engineering

The article, “Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage,” is published online in the scientific journal Health Psychology at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23477578.

The study was based on data from 169 first-married newlywed couples whose marital satisfaction and weight were tracked over the course of four years.

Read the Daily News article.

EXCERPT:

New York Daily News
Newly married couples who remained happy after they tied the knot were more likely to pack on pounds early in their marriage than couples who were less satisfied, a Southern Methodist University study found.

Happy, young newlyweds are more likely to put on weight in the early years after they exchange vows, a new study finds.
Researchers from Southern Methodist University tracked 169 first-time newlywed couples, keeping tabs on their marital satisfaction and weight over the course of four years. Newlyweds checked in with the researchers twice a year, answering questions on their satisfaction with their marriage and taking measurements on their weight, height, and body-mass index.

Read the Daily News article.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.

London’s Daily Mail newspaper covered the research of SMU psychologist Andrea L. Meltzer, who found that young couples who are satisfied with their marriage are more likely to gain weight, putting them at risk for various health problems associated with being overweight.

The article, “Why a happy marriage can be heavy going: Smitten newlyweds more likely to pile on the pounds,” was published April 4.

Meltzer, lead researcher on the study, is an assistant professor in the SMU Department of Psychology.

The study’s researchers said the findings challenge the long-held notion that quality relationships are always beneficial to one’s health. Instead, they said, the findings suggest that spouses who are satisfied in the marriage are less motivated to attract an alternative mate. As a result, satisfied spouses relax efforts to maintain their weight.

Book a live interview

To book a live or taped interview with Andrea Meltzer in the SMU News Broadcast Studio call SMU News and Communications at 214-768-7650 or email SMU News at news@smu.edu.

Related links

• Andrea L. Meltzer
• SMU Department of Psychology
• Health Psychology: “Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage”
• Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

More SMU Research news

Fruit flies fed organic diets are healthier than flies fed nonorganic diets, study finds

Center for Creative Leadership to study innovative learning method of SMU Lyle School of Engineering

The article, “Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage,” is published online in the scientific journal Health Psychology at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23477578.

The study was based on data from 169 first-married newlywed couples whose marital satisfaction and weight were tracked over the course of four years.

Read the Mail article.

EXCERPT:

Mail Online
A happy marriage can lead to a couple putting on weight, according to a study.
Contented newlyweds are more likely to put on the pounds due to being less motivated to attract an alternative mate, say US researchers who tracked the marital satisfaction and weight of 169 couples over four years.

Psychologist Andrea L Meltzer, who led the study, said: ‘On average, spouses who were more satisfied with their marriage were less likely to consider leaving their marriage, and they gained more weight over time.

‘In contrast, couples who were less satisfied in their relationship tended to gain less weight over time.’
The researchers, from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, said the findings challenged the standard belief that quality relationships were beneficial to health.

Read the Mail article.

Follow SMUResearch.com on Twitter.

SMU has an uplink facility located on campus for live TV, radio, or online interviews. To speak with an SMU expert or book an SMU guest in the studio, call SMU News & Communications at 214-768-7650.