Citing major studies in seven European countries, the Daily Mail has stated that being in a long-term, committed relationship actually improves married people’s diet and helps them live longer.
The website says that marriage brings better mental and physical health, and on average married people live longer. More precisely, long-term committed relationships reduce the chance of premature death by 15 per cent.
Marriage is key to better life
David Gallacher, a trainee at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, and John Gallacher, a reader at Cardiff University’s School of Medicine, reviewed the European studies and noted that marriage is actually good for physical health of men and mental well-being of women.
Being happily married for longer time augmented the benefits all round, resulting in a longer and more satisfying life, the authors of the review found.
“Marriage and other forms of partnership can be placed along a sliding scale of commitment, with greater commitment conferring greater benefit,” Daily Mail quoted Gallacher as saying.
“That marriage generally indicates a deeper commitment might explain why marriage is associated with better mental health outcomes than cohabiting. Cohabiting relationships tend to be less enduring. The most widely accepted explanation is that being in a committed relationship means better social support is available.
“Commitment seems to provide networks of supportive and helpful relationships, beginning with the spouse or partner, leading to more healthy lifestyles and better emotional and physical health.”
The authors noted that married couples were more likely to eat healthily, have more friends and take better care of each other.
Men, women receive different benefits
They said that couples benefit from marriage in different ways. While women in committed relationships had better mental health, men had better physical health.
“In terms of physical health, men benefit more from being in a relationship than women, but in terms of mental health women benefit more than men,” UK’s Daily quoted the authors as saying.
"The physical health premium for men is likely to be caused by their partner's positive influence on lifestyle. The mental health bonus for women may be due to a greater emphasis on the importance of the relationship in women."
Marriage linked to long life
The review also showed that committed couples live longer, and the health benefits of companionship keep growing over time.
The death rates in married people were 10 to 15 percent lower than the population as a whole, said Dr Gallacher.
Being single better than being in a strained relationship
However, the review authors warned that not all relationships are good for you, referring to evidence that single people have better mental health than those in difficult and strained relationships, according to Daily Mail.
“The take home message is simple. Exclusive and supportive relationships confer substantial mental and physical health benefits that grow over time,’ said Dr Gallacher.
“Although failure of a relationship can harm health, that is an argument for avoiding a bad relationship rather than not getting into a relationship at all. On balance, it is probably worth making the effort,’ he concluded.
The review, which looked at 148 studies, was published in the 'British Medical Journal' Thursday.
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