Husbands eat greens to keep peace

Married men may eat their greens at dinner, but they are likely to sneak off to binge on junk food when their wives aren’t looking, just to keep the peace, according to a new study.

Married men may eat their greens at dinner, but they are likely to sneak off to binge on junk food when their wives aren’t looking, just to keep the peace, according to a new study.

The researchers recruited focus groups with 83 African-American men for their study, which was published in this month’s issue of the journal, Health Psychology. Most of the men revealed that their wives didn’t consult them when making healthy dietary changes, and husbands often disliked the food changes, but to keep the peace, they keep their objections to themselves.

Yet all the good intentions at home often backfire, according to a statement from the researchers. “After tasteless ground turkey for the fifth night in a row, some men would head to the all-you-can-eat buffet for ‘a landslide of food’,” said the statement.

“I think at dinner, a lot of men are eating healthier, but they compensate for the dissatisfaction of not eating what they want by making unhealthier choices outside the home,” study researcher Derek Griffith, of the University of Michigan, said in a statement.

While there is a long line of research that associates marriage with reducing unhealthy habits, such as smoking, recent research finds that cohabitating couples may also pick up each other’s bad habits, such as watching too much television, eating junk food, and skipping the gym.