Male Divorcees Are Becoming Unhealthy After Ending Their Marriages

Ending one's own marriage could be damaging to a person's health. A study found that men divorcees form unhealthier eating habits after separating from their partners.

The study examined 11,577 participants in the U.K. with ages between 40 and 80. They were assessed during two time periods: from 1993 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2002, Fox News reported.

During the first assessment, 89 percent of the male participants and 78 percent of the women were married. After 3.6 years, 2.4 percent of the men and 4.5 percent of the females were separated from their partners, divorced or widowed.

Unhealthier Eating Habits

After their marriages ended, male participants lessened their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables by around 25 percent. Aside from that, the men's diets became less varied compared to their counterparts who stayed married. Women, on the other hand, didn't see any changes in their diets after divorcing their partners.

Men's alcohol consumption habits didn't change after their divorce. Women saw a small but notable reduction in their alcohol consumption after their separation or divorce from their partners.

Consequences Of Poor Diets

Researchers of the study said reduced consumption of fresh produce can give people higher chances of developing cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Less varied diets are also linked with Type 2 diabetes and some types of cancers, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Pablo Monsivais, the study's lead author and senior lecturer at the University of Cambridge Centre for Diet and Activity Research, said women are commonly responsible for shopping and preparing the family's meals. That is why women's diets didn't change that much even though they got divorced; as opposed to men who resort to food they can easily access and doesn't take too much preparation time.

Benefits Of Marriage

A study found that married cancer patients have higher chances of surviving from their illnesses than their counterparts who are single, the Toronto Sun reported. Doctors in Finland also found that married people have lower chances of having heart attacks while a research from Tel Aviv University in Israel said happily married men have low chances of strokes.

A study from the Virginia Commonwealth University found that married men earn wages that are 22 percent higher than bachelors, Men's Health reported. Married men are also inclined to have higher performance ratings and faster promotions at work than their single colleagues.

Divorce isn't all bad, though. Some women claimed that the end of their marriages made them more confident, more faithful, more patient and less afraid. They also gained more friends and have learned to drop the illusion of control, according to the Huffington Post.