Study shows married people are healthier (didn't see it posted)

[Bono71]

I guess this means Mrs. Bono is still allowed to nag me to see the doctor once a year?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=19&u=/ap/20041216/ap_on_he_me/marriage_health

[Tempest]

1. A survey? Hardly reliable.

Trusting people to tell the truth about personal matters is no way to base conclusions.

The only true way is to review the medical records of a sample population.

And I call bullshit on the smoking conclusion. Many more of my married friends smoke than my single friends.

[daleo]

4. Findings like this are quite consistent with lifespan data

Married people tend to have lower death rates at any given age, and therefore have longer lifespans. For example, in Canada the death rate in 1991 was 1524 per 100000 for 45-64 year single old males, versus 693 for married males and 927 for divorced/widowed/separated males. For females the numbers were 629 deaths per 100000 single, 400 married and 534 divorced/widowed/separated. This is from a book that I own, McVey - Canadian Population. A little googling will support this.

This may be a selection effect - healthier, richer, more well educated people marry more. There may also be a social support effect.

[Bridget Burke]

2. Which came first?

From the article:

A second possibility, she said, is marital selection — "the theory that healthy people get married and stay married, whereas less healthy people either do not marry or are more likely to become separated, divorced or widowed."

We need to compare groups identical in every detail except for marital status in order to get true results.

[HuckleB]

7. Good point.

[suegeo]

3. But not if they're gay

/sarcasm

[heidler1]

5. This is a pretty good reason for premarital sex. With men especially

the ability to perform is tied to good health for a starting point. IMO the ability for a woman to conceive would most likely also be tied to good health. Surely the ability to carry a pregnancy to full term would indicate good health. Life is not fair.

[Bono71]

6. I am all for premarital sex...you definitely need to try a

sample before you commit to "peach" ice cream FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.