Contributed by: Editor on Sunday, May 09 2010 @ 01:49 pm
Last modified on
There have been numerous studies as far back as 1858 which looked at if marriage is good for people's health. Most of them concluded that on average, married people appear to be healthier and live longer than unmarried people. Studies on marriage in Sweden and Netherlands found that married people are less likely to develop cancer, have heart attacks, die from a violent death and be in a car accident. Studies like these have even affected government policy. The "Healthy Marriage Initiative" was setup by the US government and received $150 million a year from 2006 to 2010. This program worked on projects like reducing divorce and these projects routinely mentioned the health benefits of married couples.
Recent studies have found a flip side to all this though. If you have a troubled relationship with your partner the health benefits disappear. This marital stress actually can lead to a person's health being worse off than before he or she was married. One study even suggested that stress in a marriage can be as bad for the heart as smoking.
Find out more about how marriage affects your health by reading the New York Times[*1] . For dating sites where people look for long term relationships and/or marriage, check out our Popular Match System category.