A new study from the US suggests higher rates of "premature deaths" among single people. Seems a little wonky to me. As a single,
I can honestly say I took better care of my health, simply because I was actively 'on the market' and hence far more concerned with my
appearance. I am also not sure I buy the whole "marriage increases the social support system", since I seem to recall having a ton more
friends when I was single!!! LOL. For the singles out there, do you buy this?
Singles face higher risk of premature death: study
Last Updated Wed, 09 Aug 2006 18:59:24 EDT
Bachelors aged 19 to 44 are more than twice as likely to die than their married male peers, while single people generally face a higher risk of premature death, a U.S. study suggests.
Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles reported their findings on Thursday in the British Medical Association's Journal of Epidemiology and Health.
They said that, after they factored out age and state of health, Americans who never married were 58 per cent more likely to have died during an eight-year period compared to those who were initially married and living with their spouses.
The team at the University of California at Los Angeles analyzed census and death certificate information for almost 67,000 adult Americans, focusing on the period from 1989 to 1997.
Of those sampled in 1989:
- Almost half were married.
- Almost one in 10 were widowed.
- Around 12 per cent were divorced.
- About three per cent were separated.
Of the remainder, five per cent were living with a partner and one in five had never married.
By 1997, old age and poor health were the main causes of death, as the researchers expected. But they still found a higher risk for people who had never walked down the aisle than those who were married or had been divorced.
Singles generally healthier but more isolated
The team said risky behaviors could not explain the difference, given that the unmarried group showed healthier habits, such as exercising a little more and drinking slightly less alcohol than the married group.
The study's authors suggested that marriage gives a rough estimate of social connectedness.
The findings suggest that people who never marry may be socially isolated and lack support from children or other relatives.
"Our findings show that the never-married penalty is greatest for younger adults and that the relation is strongest for infectious disease — presumably deaths related to HIV infection," the team wrote.
The risk was larger for those in very good or excellent health and was greater among men than women, the study found.