According to a new US study, married adults are healthier than divorced, widowed or those never married. The report, issued by the National Center for Health Statistics was based on interviews with 127,545 adults in the US.
The study found that married couples are less likely to suffer from a variety of ailments, including, back pain, headaches, and psychological stress.
Although married men are more likely to be overweight or even obese, married adults are less likely to smoke, drink heavily or be physically inactive.
Overall, married people are healthier than all other adults with the exception of husbands, who tend to be heavier than all other men. The study found that just over 70 percent of married men were overweight compared with 65 percent of all men.
The study found that about 48.5 percent of married women and all other women were overweight or obese – virtually tied. However, just over 52 percent of widowed women were overweight.
Overall, close to 60 percent of adults are married, with 10.4 percent divorced or separated, 6.6 percent are widowed, 19 percent are never married and 5.7 percent are living with a partner.