His baby face face and taut torso may make her the envy of her friends, but a toyboy husband could send a woman to an early grave.
Research shows that women who tie the knot with younger men tend to die before their time. And the younger her beloved is, the harder it is on her health.
Men, on the other hand, appear to thrive when they marry someone younger. In fact, the more youthful his wife, the longer a man lives.
The finding will be a shock to growing numbers of “cougars” - middle-aged women who date younger men.
The disparity was revealed by an analysis of the marriage and death records of two million Dutch men and women. It showed that men who marry younger women live longer than those who choose a spouse of their own age.
For instance, a man with a wife seven to nine years his junior is seven percent less likely to die at any given time than one who picks a woman of the same age. And the bigger the age gap, the longer his life.
In contrast, a woman who snags a man seven to nine years younger is 20 percent more likely to die than one who tied the knot with a chap of her own age.
And for any woman “lucky” enough to marry a man more than 15 years younger, the risk soars to 30 percent, say the findings, reported in the journal Demography.
The researchers from Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research said it was not clear why marrying a toyboy was so bad for a woman’s health. But they believe a man benefits from having a much younger wife because she can nurse him as he ages.
She is also more likely to broaden her husband’s social circle and interests, boosting his mental and physical health.
And it could be a man has to be healthier - and wealthier - than average to attract a much younger woman in the first place.
At the same time, women may shorten their lives by marrying a toyboy because their husband is likely to be less willing to nurse them through old age.
Researcher Sven Drefahl said: “The greater the age difference, the lower the wife’s life expectancy. The best choice for a woman is to marry a man of exactly the same age.”
WOMEN ON THE PROWL
A number of celebrities have been quick to embrace the cougar trend.
They include 45-year-old Friends actress Courteney Cox - currently starring as a predatory older woman in the U.S. TV series Cougar Town - whose husband David Arquette is seven years younger.
Hollywood actress Demi Moore, 47, is 15 years older than husband Ashton Kutcher, while Madonna's first husband Sean Penn was two years younger, and her second, director Guy Ritchie, was ten years her junior.
The 51-year-old singer is currently dating Brazilian model Jesus Luz who is 28 years younger.
Artist and film director Sam Taylor-Wood, 42, is expecting a child with her 19-year-old fiance Aaron Johnson. - Daily Mail