We all know that divorce results in a number of changes in lifestyle for both spouses, but did you know that divorce can have noteworthy effects on diet, especially in men? A recent study done in Social Science and Medicine found that after a divorce, the healthiness of a man’s diet declines to a point of clinical significance. In contrast, women’s diets do not exhibit a significant change.
The study tracked the diets of 11,577 people aged between 40-80 over the course of four years. The diets were analyzed by the amount and variety of fruits and vegetables. After four years, the researchers found that the men whose marriage ended during that time consumed 25% less fruits and vegetables than men who remained married. Furthermore, their diets had less variety. Again, women had no statistically significant changes in diet.
Another interesting fact revealed in the study had to do with alcohol consumption. While one would intuitively assume that alcohol consumption would increase after divorce, this is not the case. In fact, the study indicated no significant change in the alcohol consumption in men, and women actually saw a small reduction in alcohol consumption of about one drink per week.
The study seems to confirm certain generational stereotypes as the change in the male post-divorce diet seems to stem from food preparing behaviors of the time period in which the participants were born in. In the 1920s-1960s, women were the primary food preparers which may explain why their diets remained unchanged after divorce. Men, who may have become used to receiving prepared meals from their wives, would have to adjust to buying and cooking their own food; something they may not know how to do.
If nothing else, the study demonstrates how fundamentally life altering divorce can be.