While obesity is frequently linked to physical health, little research has
examined how height, weight, and BMI are associated with marital satisfaction.
An old study reported a small amount of assortative mating on
height, weight, and other physical characteristics (Price & Vandenberg,
1980). More recent evidence has indicated that spouses tend to be happier
with their marriage when they both gain weight (e.g., Meltzer, Novak,
McNulty, Butler, & Karney, 2013). However, no research has specifically
tested the function of couple similarity on height, weight, and BMI in
marriages.