Suchergebnisse

SummaryOverweight and obesity constitute a major and increasing health and welfare problem throughout the world. Assessing the multifaceted mechanisms – biological, environmental and behavioural – behind this development is a crucial task in medical, social and economic sciences. We are, therefore, grateful to have been given the opportunity to, once again, discuss whether the risk of divorce may be one of the factors influencing the incentives of becoming overweight or obese and, hence, ultimately the physical appearance among the married. In this Debate, colleagues Schneider and Grimps present the results of a multilevel analysis, in which they could not identify any statistically significant association between body mass index (BMI) and divorce risk among married people. Thus, they question the findings, previously published in this Journal (Lundborget al., 2007). The Schneider and Grimps arguments are not convincing, however. So, we still claim that the statistical material at hand does, indeed, imply that divorce risk at the national level may well influence the weight of the married.

SummaryThis article explores to what extent married middle-aged individuals in Europe
are governed by the risk of experiencing divorce, when shaping their physical
appearance. The main result is that divorce risks, proxied by national divorce
rates, are negatively connected to body mass index (BMI) among married
individuals but unrelated to BMI among singles. Hence, it seems that married
people in societies where divorce risks are high are more inclined to invest in
their outer appearance. One interpretation is that high divorce rates make
married people prepare for a potential divorce and future return to the marriage
market.