Body Mass Index as a Predictor of Marital Satisfaction in Married Adults

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Body mass index (BMI) is the important indicator of general health. Those with high BMI are at risk of many diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, heart diseases, high blood pressure and liver diseases. Individual feel pressure to achieve the ideal body image in order to be accepted by family, friends and their romantic partners. Women become more satisfied from their body as they feel their husbands are satisfied with their body. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of body mass index and marital satisfaction in married adults. METHODOLOGY: This cross sectional study, after approval from the Board of Advance Studies and Research (BASR), University of Karachi, was conducted from 30th November 2014 to 30th January 2015. Through purposive sampling, 200 married adults (100 male, 50 working and 50 non-working ladies) were selected from different organizations of Karachi. The entire sample belonged to middle socioeconomic status. After taking the consent from the participants demographic form and The Kansas Marital Satisfaction (KMS) scale were administered and responses were scored according to the procedure given in the manuals. RESULTS: The age of the participants was between 22 to 40 years (mean 34.27 ±5.13) with the minimum of 2 years and maximum of 20 years of marriage. Their educational level was ranging from graduation and above. The mean height of participants was 5.44 feet, weight 67.33 kg, BMI 24.25 and mean duration of marriage was 2.5 years. Linear regression showed that the correlation between BMI and martial satisfaction is significant (p=<.05) in married adults. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that dissatisfaction with body weight negatively affects marital satisfaction.