Presenting an interesting new study at the American Sociological Association, Ohio State University researchers have pointed out that the two-year period after marriage or divorce increases a person’s risk of piling on unwanted pounds!

The comprehensive study – which kept a track of marital status and weight of 10,071 people between 1986 and 2008 – found that most men and women showed the tendency of gaining weight in the two years after a marital transition --- either marriage or divorce.

In other words, both men and women apparently have an overall tendency of gaining a small amount of weight in the two years following a marital change, vis-à-vis the people who never married.

Underscoring that weight gain can be triggered by both marriage and divorce, the findings of the study showed that the risk of “large” weight gains was the greatest for newly-married women, and just-divorced men.

It was also found that while the weight gains by the ‘just married’ and the ‘just unmarried’ people were quite similar for those under 30 years, the likelihood of these weight gains increased notably in the 30+ people.

Commenting on the findings, Helen Riley – from the British Nutrition Foundation charity – said that marriage as well as divorce mark “significant changes in someone's life”; and that these changes alter the “living situation” of the people involved as well as “the types of food they eat”!