If you're a man seeking divorce advice in Pasadena, you might be doing something really great for your health by leaving your ex. A new study suggests divorce often serves as a catapult for newly-single men to improve their daily fitness routines, change their diets and lose weight. Post-divorce health and fitness for their ex-wives, however, doesn't look so great. According to the study, women are less likely to become healthy after a painful divorce.
The study was conducted by the Karolinska Institute and its findings were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Nine thousand men and women over the age of 45 were monitored by the institute over an eight-year period. Participants in the study underwent routine treadmill tests to determine their fitness and were questioned about their relationships during the duration of the study.
"There was a significant increase in fitness levels in men who divorced but ... a decrease in the fitness of divorced women," researchers in Stockholm said. "Single men have the social pressure of keeping themselves fit to increase their attractiveness and find a partner, while married men no longer have that requirement, or at least they have it to a lower extent."
Newly-single women, on the other hand, aren't traditionally concerned with being in top physical shape.
"Women's attractiveness might not be related to fitness or strength but to other traits, such as a narrow waist-to-hip ratio," the researchers noted.
Findings of the Karolinska Institute differ from previous studies which monitored divorce and physical health. Prior studies have nearly conclusively found divorce to bring a myriad of health problems for newly-single people. A study conducted in the United States, for example, found that divorcées have a 20 percent higher rate of chronic illnesses than those who have never been divorced. This new study suggests men can fight the potential negative health effects of a divorce by working on their health and fitness.