Double Standards Of Overweight Men

As women hit the January diet trail, men are today caught with their pants down, with egos as large as their waistbands. A no-holds-barred national survey shifts the spotlight to male attitudes to weight loss – and the weight of their partners – revealing serious double standards, and a few home truths.

It shows precisely how many like their women slim, but are themselves fat; would tell their partner they were overweight, and yet wouldn’t lose weight for them; and would gladly exclaim: “your bum looks big in that” while unable to see their own trouser belts.

The poll, from weight loss specialists LighterLife, compared men’s attitudes with the harsh reality of their own Body Mass Index (BMI), to expose lessons for both sexes. Polling company BMRB asked 813 men, nationally representative, who confessed that:

- When the chips are down, 53 per cent said they would find a partner less attractive if they gained large amounts of weight. And yet 51 per cent of the same men – around 5 1/2 million nationwide - are themselves overweight or obese

- Seventy per cent of men would actually tell a partner if they were overweight

- However, when asked what would be likely to make the men lose weight, only 16 per cent said “if my partner asked”, and just 13 per cent said “a better sex life”

- Relationships could make men more complacent – 62 per cent of men in a relationship were overweight or obese, compared with 45 per cent who were not in a relationship, and perhaps trying harder

- Thirty four per cent of men said they would rather have food than sex – three per cent more than women, according to a previous LighterLife poll

- Looking down, nearly one in eight of all men can’t see their belt, and for some, their feet have long gone (and so what else...?). And of those who say they don’t have a beer belly, 43 per cent are overweight or obese

- Nineteen per cent of men thought diets were a “girl thing”, and yet 36 per cent had attempted to lose weight

- Sugar addiction is rife, with chocolate the top comfort food (12 per cent, the same as women from a separate 2006 LighterLife poll), followed by crisps

- But the deception didn’t stop there.

- Nearly three quarters said they would care if they were overweight – yet 55 per cent of this group were already overweight.

- Bar Hewlett, founder of LighterLife, said: “This shows that women may indeed be from Venus, but men like a Mars – and may come down to earth with a bump after these findings.

“For many, the problem may be fundamental – a staggering 78 per cent didn’t know that ‘medically obese’ is actually three stone overweight - nearly half think they have to be four or more stone, so millions might not know they are in the health danger zone at all. Just one stone overweight doubles the risk of a heart attack, and three or more stone increases the threat of killers such as cancer, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.

“And yet, ironically, medical conditions are a key trigger - when asked what would motivate them to lose weight, a half said heart problems. And yet their weight threatens to bring this very problem on.”

Bar added: “But there is certainly a role for women here in helping men - 45 per cent of men in a relationship say their other halves choose what they eat, and nearly a fifth say their partner encourages them to eat larger meals because they are hearty.”