A Correlation Between Divorce and Obesity

The U.S. Census keeps track of some interesting data, like how Asian women have the lowest divorce rates.  Race and ethnicity are strongly correlated with duration of first marriages.  Asian women are the most insulated from divorce.  

(U.S. Census Bureau 2009)

Also, race and ethnicity are strongly correlated with obesity.  Asian women are the least obese and also least overweight.

(Center for Disease Control 2011-2012)

If race and ethnicity are strongly correlated with duration of first marriages and race and ethnicity are strongly correlated with obesity, then it follows that divorce rates are strongly correlated with obesity.

The approximate formula appears to be:
Female obesity rate plus about 10% = total % of marriages ending in divorce.

Norwegian researchers taking data from the Norwegian Child Growth Study in 2010 provided an epidemiological study entitled Parental Marital Status and Childhood Overweight and Obesity in Norway: A Nationally Representative Cross-sectional Study.  They cited that, "General overweight (including obesity) was 1.54 (95% CI 1.21 to 1.95) times more prevalent among children of divorced parents compared with children of married parents."  So even the risk of obesity in children of divorced parents is higher.

Does one cause the other?  
I once met a lady whose husband divorced her because she got too fat and he was simply not very attracted to her anymore.  It's very unfortunate but happens once in a while.  Actually to be honest, I have known several men who had lost interest in their wives due to the wife having gained too much weight.  On the other hand I have also known several men who have gained weight after their divorce, but I don't know if some of the men gained some weight first, and then later their wives became unattracted to them, divorced them and then the men gained more weight.  Yet, I also know some men that lost weight after their divorce.  Perhaps obesity causes divorce which causes more obesity.

It seems equally plausible that:
(1) divorce leads to stress overeating which causes obesity,
(2) overeating causes obesity which leads to divorce, or
(3) obesity and divorce are both caused by some other factor.

Some sensational articles such as Daily Mail's: "My husband says he'll divorce me if I get fat" offered by Samantha Brick, 2010 sheds light on this and suggests that some men detest their fat wives.  It reminds me of an acquaintance from high school that once remarked, "I used to have a girlfriend, but I dumped her because she got fat."  Fortunately for me I don't have to worry about any of these issues at this time, but the web appears littered with the carcasses of failed marriages and relationships.