It’s a common occurrence that when you get comfortable in a relationship you start relaxing your diet a little. Well now that you’ve found your perfect other half, is there really any need to shun that morning pastry?

But new research suggests that taking your relationship to the next stage of marriage can actually help you stay slim.

A team of experts from Yokohama City University in Japan found that people who suffer with type 2 diabetes were 50 per cent more likely to become overweight if they were single, rather than married.

A group of 270 people with the condition were studied. The average age of participants was 65 and 180 were married and 90 were single.

After measuring the group’s height, weight, body mass index and fat content, results were compared between the two sub sections, and results showed the married group were 50 per cent less likely to be overweight compared to the single participants. They also had lower levels of fat and married men were 58 per cent less likely to develop metabolic syndrome (a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity) than single men, though the same wasn’t true in women.

“Our findings show that being married and living with one’s spouse reduced the risk of being overweight by approximately 50 per cent among patients with type 2 diabetes,” lead author Dr Yoshinobu Kondo noted.

“In contrast, being single was a risk factor for overweight status and metabolic syndrome, especially among male patients.

“These findings suggest that social supportive care is needed to help single patients with type 2 diabetes manage their body weight.”

Findings were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Munich, with team concluding living with a husband or wife was the “most fundamental” form of social support.

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