If you are a man and are married to a woman suffering from obesity, you may be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, although in the opposite case the risk does not increase in the same way.
This conclusion has come a new study on the risk of developing diabetes, which is the first to investigate the specific effects of obesity in marriage depending on sex.
The authors of the study intended to discover if the fact that a person suffered from obesity or diabetes of type 2 could increase the chances of their partner developing diabetes, due to risk behaviors that lead to this disease and that they are shared within a couple, such as bad eating habits and lack of physical activity.
According to research, married men with women suffering from obesity are more risk of developing diabetes.
It is known that people suffering from obesity or who have a family history of type 2 diabetes have much more risk of developing the disease than an average citizen.But the study suggests that those over 55 married to a woman suffering from type 2 diabetes tend to have more overweight than married to a woman who does not have type 2 diabetes.
This new research - which is divided into two studies - is the first to specifically analyze this relationship between the couple's obesity and the development of diabetes.
In the first of the studies, in which more than 3000 men and 3000 women residing in England participated, a group of researchers from the Aarthus University of Denmark analyzed the relationship between obesity and diabetes of one of the members of thecouple and the chances of the other to develop type 2 diabetes.
The participants were interviewed every two and a half years from 1998 to 2015, and there were participants who reported that type 2 diabetes had been discovered after clinical tests.
For every 5 kilos of body mass index in women, the probabilities of the man to develop type 2 diabetes increased by 21%.
The results adjusted depending on the potential factors that could contribute to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, such as age, ethnicity, socio -economic status and the level of obesity (determined by the body mass index and by the measure of the measure of thewaist).
After the follow -up over 11 and a half years, the study authors discovered that 12.6 out of every 1000 men developed type 2 diabetes and, in the case of women, the figure amounted to 8.6.
The researchers did not find statistically relevant signs, apart from the fact that being married to a diabetic woman increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, after a more exhaustive analysis, they concluded that a man married to a woman with a womanObesa was more likely to develop type 2 diabetes during the monitoring period.
For every 5 kilos of body mass index in women, the probabilities of the man to develop type 2 diabetes increased by 21%.
Married women with an obese husband have no added risk beyond their own level of obesity.
In another investigation, the authors analyzed whether the development of obesity over the years varied if the couples of the more than 7000 study participants had type 2 diabetes.
The researchers who carried out the study - which were carried out only with heterosexual couples - came to the conclusion that most people are gaining weight to 70 years;The results show that people over 55 who lived with a spouse with type 2 diabetes had much higher levels of obesity compared toindividuals whose partners did not suffer from diabetes.
"This is the first study to investigate the specific consequences in each sex of obesity and propensity to diabetes in marriage. If a man is married to a woman who suffers from obesity, increases her risk of developing diabetes; instead, theMarried women with a obese husband have no added risk beyond their own level of obesity..
"Recognizing the shared risk in a marriage can help the detection of diabetes and serve as motivation for couples to eat healthier and increase the level of activity. That one of the two members of the couple suffers from obesity or diabetes of type 2It can give rise to the other starting to control the weight of a regular basis and inform themselves of whether it has a family history of diabetes.
The investigation was presented at the annual conference of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Lisbon, which took place from September 11 to 15.