Science has proved what Charles Dickens knew: rotund, middle-aged men are often more content than others.
To make his point, Dickens created a cast of cheerful, well-nourished characters such as Samuel Pickwick, old Wardle and Tony Weller, the Cockney coachman who observed that “vidth and visdom alvays grows together”.
Contemporary psychologists have come to the same conclusion by analysing data collected over 20 years from 37,272 Scots. They too found that chubby men in their prime were generally relaxed about life. Conversely, underweight women and obese young women under 45 “were significantly more likely to have poor mental health”. The research is published in the journal Psychological Medicine.
Dr Daniel Smith,a member of the team from the University of Glasgow involved in the research, said: “For some middle-aged men, there may be something, I guess, about not worrying about things you can’t influence.”
Dickens, of course, also knew that weight brought health risks too. His portly characters were inclined to gout. “The gout, sir,” replied Mr Weller, “the gout is a complaint as arises from too much ease and comfort. If you are ever attacked with the gout, sir, jist you marry a widder as has got a good loud woice, with a decent notion of usin’ it, and you’ll never have the gout again.”