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Married Couples Share Risk Factors
Study of more than 5,000 couples shows partners influence each other’s behavior.
By Shirley Archer, JD, MA
Jan 25, 2021
Trainers may want to propose small-group personal training for married couples, as it turns out that nearly 80% of them share heart disease risk factors and behaviors, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open (2020; 3 [10], e2020119).
Harvard University researchers studied 5,364 partners who participated in an employee wellness program. Investigators looked at behaviors and risk factors and found that 79% fell into the “nonideal” category for cardiovascular health, with most also eating unhealthy diets and not exercising enough.
“We expected to see some shared risk factors, but it was a surprise to see that the vast majority of couples were in a nonideal category for overall cardiovascular health,” says study author Samia Mora, MD, MHS, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital Divisions of Preventive Medicine and Cardiovascular Medicine.
See also: Weight Loss Runs in the Family
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