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Obesity and Marital Quality

Analysis of Weight, Marital Unhappiness, and Marital Problems in a U.S. National Sample

Cornell University

BARBARA S. RAUSCHENBACH

Cornell University

EDWARD A. FRONGILLO, Jr.

Cornell University

Obesity is a stigmatized condition that clinical studies have suggested is associated with low marital quality. Body weight, marital unhappiness, and marital problems were examined in a national telephone survey of 1,980 married adults. Few relationships between the 5 measures of weight and 2 measures of marital quality (unhappiness and problems) were significant. Obese men had more marital problems. Men who lost more weight reported marital problems less often. Obese women reported less marital unhappiness. Men and women who gained weight were happier with their marriages. These population-based findings differ from popular beliefs and clinical studies and may be interpreted using family functioning, social norms, and marital exchange models.

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