Now a new study has found when one spouse¹ begins to put on weight, their partner's risk of obesity² almost doubles.

如今，一项新研究发现，当夫妻一方增重，其伴侣肥胖率将翻倍。

Men whose wives became obese³, were 78 per cent more likely to follow suit, while having a husband who became obese was linked to an 89 per cent increased risk of wives putting on too much weight.

对男性而言，当妻子变得肥胖时，丈夫有78%的可能会跟着肥胖;当丈夫为肥胖者时，妻子的体重有89%的几率会跟着增长。

Dr Laura Cobb, who led the study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said: 'Normal weight people whose spouses⁴ went from being normal weight to obese were more likely to become obese.

这项研究由来自霍普金斯大学的劳拉·科布负责，她说：“如果夫妻中的一方婚后才开始变肥胖，那么另一方更容易肥胖。"

Dr Cobb and colleagues followed almost 4,000 couples for up to 25 years, starting between 1987 and 1989.

科布博士和其他研究人员对4000对夫妇进行了25年的跟踪调查，研究始于1987和1989年间。

At the start of the study, 23 per cent of the men and 25 per cent of the women were obese.

在研究开始阶段，对象中23%的男性和25%的女性是胖子。

Non-obese men whose wives became obese between visits were 78 per cent more likely to become obese during that period than they would have been had their wives not gained so much weight, the researchers found.

研究者发现，当妻子在研究进行期间发胖，那么体重正常的丈夫变肥胖的可能性比原来增加78%。

Having a husband become obese was linked to an 89 per cent increased risk of developing obesity for their wives.

而当妻子有一位发胖的丈夫，她发胖的几率将比原来增加89%。

It’s not unusual for married couples to forge⁵ common habits over time that influence their weight, said Ivanka Prichard, a weight loss researcher at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

对于已婚伴侣来说，他们会渐渐形成同样的习惯，这些习惯通常影响着他们的体重。来自澳大利亚阿德莱德弗林德斯大学的减重研究者伊万卡·普理查德如是说。

'Over time, similarities in diet, particularly any unhealthy aspects, may lead to weight changes,' Dr Prichard, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Reuters.

“随着时间的推移，夫妻二人在饮食习惯，尤其是不健康的饮食习惯上会越来越相似，这将导致体重的增长。”普理查德博士这样告诉路透社，他并未参与到研究中。

'There are also a range of pressures in life that could impact this such as having children, work, shared health knowledge, time or finances⁶.'

“另外影响体重的还有诸多生活上的压力，比如孩子、工作、共享的健康知识、时间安排还有家庭经济方面的问题。”