How Your Relationship Status Affects Your Health

Several studies have shown that people tend to puff up in the years after they tie the knot, simply because they are comfortable in their relationship and not so concerned with looking good to attract another mate. On the flip side a 2004 University of Maryland study showed that single people exercised more, ate healthier and lived overall healthier lives than their married counterparts.

Single people seem to be much better at maintaining friendships as well. Especially single females, who tend to have a "network of people who are important to them" according to a 2006 University of Massachusetts at Amherst study. Married people caught up in married life can let certain friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc drift away a bit.

I think this one might be a bit obvious, but the singles seem to win out here as well. A 2005 University of Michigan study showed that singles performed less housework than married people which made them more relaxed on a regular basis. And a 2014 survey about money found that single people were less stressed about finances and had less credit card debt than those who had tied the knot!

Though single people seem to be thinner and healthier than their married counterparts, its the married folks that pull through surgery more often. A 2012 Emory University study showed that single people were three times less likely to survive a major surgery than those who were married. Married people also tended to smoke less, which may have helped them with this recovery.

Perhaps hand -in-hand with the ability to pull through surgery better is the fact that married people have healthier hearts. A 2014 study of more than 3.5 million people presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Scientific Session showed that single people are 5% more likely to develop heart disease than married people.