Is your Teenage Son Obese? Then slim chance of Marriage.

Men who are grossly overweight at age 18 have nearly 50 per cent less chance of marrying by their 30s and 40s, according to new research.



The findings, discussed on Thursday at a conference on obesity in Amsterdam, held true regardless of the men's intellectual prowess or socio-economic position. this could suggest that women rank looks higher than other traits when choosing a partner.



"Yes, that may be one explanation," researcher Malin Kark of the Karolinska Institute told Agence France-Presse on the sidelines of the event hosted by the European Association for the Study of Obesity.



Her study covered more than 500,000 Swedish men born between 1951 and 1961. It found men who had been obese at 18 were 46 per cent less likely to be married in 1991 - when they were aged 30 to 40 - than men with no weight problem, and 45 per cent less likely in 2004.



For men who had been overweight but not obese at 18, the chances of marriage were slightly higher - 10 per cent lower than for men of normal weight in their 30s and 9 per cent lower than for those in their 40s.



"We think this shows there is stigmatisation of obese young men that continues into adulthood, at work and in interpersonal relationships," said Ms. Kark.



While no information was available on the men's adult weight, other studies have found that obese adolescents were likely to become obese adults, she added.



For the purpose of study, the obese were defined as those with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30. To calculate a person's BMI, take his weight in kilograms and divide it by the square of his height in metres.



The World Health Organization estimated that in 2005, about 1.6 million adults were overweight, of which at lease 400 millions were obese.



Source: Agence France-Presse.

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