Unhealthy diet changes after divorce, spousal death more common in men

Programs promoting healthy eating among older adults should consider that unhealthy changes to diet accompanying divorce, separation and becoming widowed may affect men more than women, according to data published in Social Science & Medicine.

“Evidence from observational studies in many countries suggests that different types of social relationships are important influences on food consumption,” Johan L. Vinther, MSc, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, at the University of London, and colleagues wrote. “Specifically, individuals who are married report higher fruit and vegetable intake than persons who are not married, and those who have lost a partner appear to have poorer nutrition than those without experiences of bereavement.”

To examine the link between changes in marital status and health eating behaviors, the researchers conducted a longitudinal study including 11,577 adults aged 39 to 78 years, recruited for the EPIC-Norfolk study in the United Kingdom. The participants had completed food frequency questionnaires from 1993 to 1997, and in 1998 to 2002.

The researchers used multivariate linear regression analyses to determine gender-specific associations between five categories of marital transitions and changes in quantity and variety of fruits and vegetables.

According to the researchers, after the 3.6-year follow-up, widowed men showed significant declines in all four indicators of healthy eating, including fruit quantity (–47.7 g/d; 95% CI, –80.6 to –14.9), fruit variety (–0.6 no/mo; 95% CI, –1.1 to –0.2), vegetable quantity (–27.7 g/d; 95% CI, –50.5 to –4.9) and vegetable variety (–1.6 no/mo; 95% CI, –2.2 to –0.9), relative to men who stayed married. In addition, separated or divorced men, or who remained single, showed significant declines in three of the indicators. Among women, only those who became separated or divorced, or stayed single, showed declines in one indicator, vegetable variety.

“This epidemiological study is the first to examine the relationship between marital transitions and change in healthy dietary behaviors using longitudinal data on men and women in the same population-based cohort,” Vinther and colleagues wrote. “Becoming widowed was associated with a significant decrease in the quantity and variety of fruits and vegetables in men, while men who were separated or divorced or remained unmarried reported a decrease in all dietary indicators except fruit quantity. Weaker associations were seen in women, and only in relation to variety outcomes.” – by Jason Laday

Disclosure: Healio-Family Medicine was unable to confirm the researchers’ financial disclosure information.