If She Exercises, He (probably) Exercises Too

Health researchers at Yale University are persuaded that the healthy behavior of one spouse can influence the behavior of another. Go figure. Science Daily reports that researchers using longitudinal data on 6,072 individuals and their spouses from
the Health and Retirement Study found the changes in
spouses’ health habits were most apparent in such behavior as smoking
and drinking, which is often spurred by outside cues, and in
patient-directed preventive behavior, such as getting a flu shot. Smokers were found to be more than five times more likely to quit smoking
if their spouse quit, when controlling for other relevant factors.
Similarly, spouses were five times more likely to quit drinking alcohol
if their partner didn’t drink. The changes were less apparent in
clinician-directed preventive behavior, such as obtaining cholesterol
screening.
Read more in Science Daily.