Odd correlations

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This correlation makes no obvious sense to me. Maybe it is only true in UK and Finland. But there are many odd correlations floating about. This is just another. Correlations don't prove cause but they are curious at the least.

Does anyone else have other odd but documented correlations? (on anything)

Study Links Birth Size to Men's Odds of Marrying

Yahoo, Mar 30

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although the decision to get married is no simple matter, new research suggests that a man's odds of walking down the aisle take shape before he can even crawl.

The smaller a male is at birth, the less likely he is to marry, according to a study of more than 5,000 British and Finnish men born in the 1920s and 1930s. While this association seems unusual, researchers say that prenatal growth affects development after birth and later health--all of which may influence their adult relationships.

Lead researcher Dr. David I. W. Phillips, of Southampton General Hospital in the UK, told Reuters Health he and colleagues decided to study this potential link because research has shown that, in general, married men are healthier than single men. The results of their study are published in the March 31st issue of the British Medical Journal.

``We've known for a long time that unmarried men have more heart disease than married men,'' Phillips said. And, he added, studies have linked low birth weight to a higher risk of heart disease in adulthood.

``We wondered, therefore, whether early growth was in some way related to whether men marry or not,'' Phillips explained.

Among the Finnish men they studied, the researchers found that the odds of marrying increased 42% for every 2-pound increase in birth weight. Length and head size at birth also played a role, with the bigger boys being more likely to hear wedding bells as adults. And, Phillips and colleagues found, men who remained single were shorter and thinner, on average, at age 15.

All of these findings were similar among the UK men.

Phillips could not explain why such a connection might exist, but said, ``we suspect that growth retardation in the womb results in changes in the body's physiology.''

He noted that these changes may affect not only physical health, but also psychological functions--including, he said, those involved in ``partner selection.''

SOURCE: British Medical Journal 2001;322:771.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), March 30, 2001

Answers

Was this some kind of liberal research? If it was, it helps justify the reasoning behind conservitives complaining about wasted money. Bet the lower birth weight problem is embedded in the lack of free pre-natal care and government sponsered pre-school. Just goes to prove that government give away programs like pre-natal care and preschools and free lunches cause men to be bigger at birth and more likely to marry the mothers of their children keeping them off of welfare and other liberal money give away programs.

Feed the mothers so they have big babies that get married and become conservitive republicans who only go after corperate welfare.

Enough correlation for you :o) ?

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), March 30, 2001.


a study of more than 5,000 British and Finnish men

In Oklahoma it's the size of Mr. Winkie that gets you married...

-- Uncle Bob (unclb0b@aol.com), March 30, 2001.


a study of more than 5,000 British and Finnish men In Oklahoma it's the size of Mr. Winkie that gets you married...

-- Uncle Bob (unclb0b@aol.com), March 30, 2001. ===========

Or probably what you can do with Mr. Winkie ;-)

Mr. Winkie's workout!

-- it is happening (right.here@right.now), March 30, 2001.


Cherri--

Yes, I think that must be it. But since Liberals are the most concerned about overpopulation, then poor pre-natal care should be a Liberal desiderata.

BTW, I weighed 10# at birth. Too bad I wasn't Finnish. Well, not really, they are kinda strange.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), March 30, 2001.


Medical epidemiology is full of odd correlations. Season of birth, order of birth and handedness have unexplained influence in many diseases.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), March 31, 2001.


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