81 percent of British men dieted compared to only 76 percent of British women

Most people associate dieting with women trying to keep themselves in shape; however a new research project has shown that men in the United Kingdom are actually dieting more than women are! The results of the survey involving over 1,600 people shows that over the last six months 81 percent of British men dieted compared to only 76 percent of British women.

The results showed however that men had different motivations for dieting when compared to women.  For example 52 percent of the men who said that they dieted over the last 6 months said that the reason for dieting was their health compared to only 29 percent of women. Forty eight percent of the men said that they had gone on a diet to improve their appearance as opposed to 71 percent of women.

The research which was commissioned by a sports nutrition organisation makes interesting reading because it shows the different attitudes that men and women have towards losing weight.  In fact it is far more important to think of health as the reason for dieting rather than appearance because over the long term if you eat healthily you will look better.  You should be careful of diets which only focus on weight loss and not on health because while they may be effective for the short term they are likely to fail in the long term.

Interestingly men who lived in London were more likely to be on a diet than men from the country and they were also the most likely to be appearance conscious rather than health conscious. Over the last ten years men have become far more body conscious than they used to be in the United Kingdom. Women say that they place a greater emphasis on their boyfriends and husbands having a good physical body shape than they used to and this is spurring men into making a bigger effort with diet and exercise.