Scientists have found out how weight gain affects happiness: the results of the study surprised them

It is widely believed that weight gain makes people less happy. However, according to a new study, this is not the case, suggesting that the psychological impact of weight may be less significant than previously thought.

Using decades of data, a researcher from Germany found that weight gain does not negatively affect a person's happiness. These findings are surprising, because in some cases, people who gained weight even reported a slight increase in happiness, regardless of gender or age, PsyPost writes.

Overweight and obesity are major health problems in Western societies. In Germany, for example, more than half of the population is classified as overweight.

According to scientists, the adverse effects of being overweight on physical health are well documented, but its psychological impact, particularly on happiness and life satisfaction, remains poorly understood.

Researcher Felix Bittmann of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories sought to determine whether weight gain directly affects happiness. To test this, he used data from 8815 participants of different genders aged 25 to 60.

The analysis showed that weight gain was not associated with a decrease in happiness. These results were the same for all age groups and categories, including overweight and moderately obese individuals.

"Surprisingly, there is no evidence of a negative impact of obesity on life satisfaction. This is good because this problem does not seem to affect the psyche directly," said Felix Bitmann.

"Indirect effects still exist, of course, as overweight people have poorer health and shorter life expectancy. Therefore, the study is particularly relevant to demonstrate why so many people are overweight: it hardly burdens them psychologically, so they have little incentive to lose weight," the researcher concluded.

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