Is weight gain grounds for a split?

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich (WOTV) - Is weight gain after marriage grounds for divorce?  Occasionally, we have clients who come in seeking an attorney because their spouse has filed for divorce and told them they are no longer attracted to them because they have gained weight.  The resulting loss of self-esteem and at the same time, indignation at their spouses' lack of loyalty is devastating, but the interesting thing is that according to study results revealed at the American Sociological Association annual meeting in Las Vegas in 2011, both sexes tend to gain weight during marriage transitions, especially after age 30.  

For women, getting married puts them at risk to gain weight.  The reason for this Zhenchao Qian, professor of sociology at Ohio State University, who participated in the study, says it is due to the larger roll that women play within the household.  They have more duties maintaining the home and raising the children than men so they have less time to care for themselves and work out.  If you ask most men they would say it is because they feel they no longer need to try to impress their spouse once they are married, but this theory was not found to be the cause, according to the study.

Men, on the other hand gain weight during and after divorce.  Marriage affords men health benefits and once the marriage ends, so do the benefits and they gain weight.  No mention was made what those benefits are, but it seems likely that healthy eating of meals created by the woman is plausible.

When the Huffington Post questioned readers about whether weight gain was grounds for divorce, the responders ran an array of answers from feeling that if their spouse no longer looked like the person they married, divorce was warranted, to the feeling that love is unconditional and the only thing weight gain should do is bring concern for your partner's health.

On answer.yahoo.com, a man named John posted the question, 'Is it ethical to divorce your wife for weight gain?  She has made no effort to lose the weight after having a baby.'  The best answer listing was from Nancy, who wrote, 'If your wife, your marriage and your new baby mean less to you than her waist measurement, maybe it's best you leave now since you are not fit to be a husband and father.'

The bottom line, ethics aside, is that in the state of Michigan, you can divorce for any reason since it is a no-fault state.  However, the question of ethics remains.  What do you think?  Would you divorce if your spouse gained weight?  Let us know what you think.  Comment below.

Nothing herein constitutes a legal opinion.