The researchers tried to test stereotypical research hypotheses in Israel and around the world, according to which straight women prefer taller men when searching for partners, straight men prefer thinner women when they come to meet a partner for the purpose of marriage, and plump straight women have to "compromise" and marry short men
Is there a connection between obesity and choosing partners? A new study recently accepted for publication in the journal Marriage and Family Review discusses this question. The study, recently published under the title "Assortative Marriage for Height-BMI in an Israeli Sample", was carried out by the Deputy Head of the Department of Economics at the Western Galilee Academy Dr. Yuval Arbel, Dr. Haim Fialkoff from the Institute for Urban and Regional Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Dr. R. Amichai Kerner from the Real Estate Department at Netanya Academic College. The researchers were additionally assisted by Dr. Miriam Kerner from the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion in analyzing the results. The research conclusions were based on a cross-sectional survey by the Central Bureau of Statistics from 2016, which was carried out through face-to-face interviews of the couple. The sample is a paired sample of 3,942 participants (1,971 straight couples of men and women).
The researchers tried to test stereotypical research hypotheses in Israel and around the world, according to which straight women prefer taller men when searching for partners, straight men prefer thinner women when they come to meet a partner for the purpose of marriage, and plump straight women have to "compromise" and marry short men. A large number of studies have shown that, on the one hand, tall men are seen as more "masculine" and enjoy a significant number of advantages during their lifetime, including better chances of winning political positions, better chances of getting rich, and, among other things, better chances of finding a suitable partner and bringing I will never have children with her. On the other hand, fat women are discriminated against in employment and income, in education and of course also in romantic relationships.
for example, A study carried out about six months ago by researchers Campos-Vasquez and Gonzalez, and mentioned in the scientific article, found that obese women in Mexico need to send 37% more resumes, to get the same amount of job applications compared to women of normal weight. Regarding romantic relationships, bstudy Not mentioned in the article, conducted in 2007 among 238 students in the USA, found that the degree of responsiveness of men to a vacancy ad was high if the offerer did not suffer from excess weight. BAnother study, which was carried out in 2005 and is not even mentioned in the article, examined 554 female students in the USA and it was discovered that women who avoid going out and partying had a higher weight compared to those who went out a lot or were with regular partners. The same researchers also found that the average chance for a woman to be in a suitable relationship decreases as the weight increases.
The phenomenon of obesity in the Western world is a risk factor for a long list of chronic diseases, including hypertension and diabetes, and it increases the chances of mortality and harms the quality of life. According to the World Health Organization, at least 2.8 million people die from obesity every year. For comparison, the number of deaths from the corona epidemic (in a period of approximately nine months from March to November 2020) is Almost 1.4 million people, and on an annual basis the number of dead is expected to reach more than 1.8 million people (the number of dead is still smaller than the annual number of deaths in the world from the phenomenon of obesity).
How is obesity measured? The accepted criterion for measuring obesity is based on the body mass index (BMI), an index first developed by the Belgian researcher Adolphe Catella in the first half of the 19th century. The formula of the index is weight in kg divided by height squared. According to the definitions of the World Health Organization, when the BMI index is higher than 18 and lower than 25, the weight is considered normal. When the index is equal to or higher than 25 but lower than 30, the classification is "overweight". When the index is equal to or higher than 30, the classification is "obesity". According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, in 30 there were 2016 billion people in the world classified as overweight and 1.9 million people classified as obese.
The research findings show a negative correlation between the woman's BMI and the height of her partner. A 10% increase in the woman's BMI causes an expected decrease in the partner's height by 0.315%. A woman with a BMI of 15 (which is defined as underweight or anorexia) is expected to marry a man who is 177.5 cm tall. On the other hand, a woman with a BMI of 45, who is in the abnormally overweight category, is expected to marry a man who is 171 cm tall. These results are maintained even when additional control variables are added to the model, such as the age of the spouse, whether the couple has children, ownership of a car and an apartment, and living in a detached apartment. In addition, it turned out that there is indeed a positive correlation between having at least one child, owning a car and living in detached houses and the man's height.
"Research findings support the hypothesis that women with a higher BMI will be forced to settle for shorter men. The research findings even support the hypothesis that tall men are more successful and more successful in their romantic tasks than short men. It should be noted that these findings are significant mainly because about 50% of the entire population of Israel is overweight. As a conclusion for public policy - on the one hand, it is appropriate to explain to the public that about 78%-80% of excess weight is due to genetic reasons, and therefore overweight people are not necessarily to blame for their condition. On the other hand, due to both health and social reasons, it is advisable to explain to overweight sufferers (and especially overweight sufferers) that it is still possible to improve the situation and influence the remaining 20%-22%, through the adoption of eating habits of healthy food and physical activity. For women, in addition to the health condition, the chances of finding a job and a partner will also improve", the researchers conclude.
