Machismo fuels apathy as men ignore obesity

The figure of 68 per cent in the study of 10,000 people in their early 40s by the Institute of Education, University of London, compares with just 49 per cent for women.

Researchers said that although men in this age group seemingly have more cause for concern about their weight, they are less likely to be worried about excess pounds than their female counterparts.

Three in 10 men who were overweight believed they were “about the right weight” compared with only nine per cent of women, and 41 per cent of overweight men said they were making efforts to shed some weight compared with two thirds of women.

Dr Alice Sullivan, from the Institute’s centre for longitudinal studies, said: “People who are overweight or obese face a higher risk of many health problems, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers.

“But carrying excess weight is far more socially acceptable for men than for women, and men will not respond to health messages about weight and obesity if they do not recognise that they are overweight. This is a particular concern given that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men aged 35 and over.”

The researchers also found that men and women born in 1970 are considerably more likely to be obese at age 42 than those born in 1958 were at the same age.

“People born in 1970 grew up at a time when lifestyles were becoming increasingly inactive and high-calorie convenience foods were widely available for the first time,” Dr Sullivan added.

Professor Steve Robertson, an expert at Leeds Metropolitan University’s centre for men’s health, said the disparity between men and women could be linked to stereotypes about “who is responsible for food and daily food preparation”.

He said: “From that sense, food and dieting are still incredibly feminine and feminised concepts.”

Prof Robertson said that as well as worries about rising obesity rates, there were “concerns about the pressure that young lads are coming under, that replicates and mirrors what young women have often experienced about body shape and body image”.

He said: “It is ironic that the two seem to be going on simultaneously.

“There are rising rates of anorexia and bulimia that is being linked to the pressure lads are under to attain certain body types.”

Prof Robertson said the decline of the UK’s manufacturing and industrial sectors since the 1980s has changed the type of work many men are now doing, which has come increasingly sedentary rather than active.

He said this could be part of the reason for the North-South divide on obesity levels, as well as cultural differences affecting men’s attitude to exercise.

“It is difficult to make sweeping stereotypes, but the whole metrosexual thing is bigger down South.

“That has an impact on things like the acceptability of people’s ability to pay attention to your diet without it being seen as over feminine, the ability to take care of your body and go down the gym and look after your body in that way.”

Statistics from the NHS Information Centre show there were 314 obesity-related hospital admissions for men in the Yorkshire and the Humber region per 100,000 of population in 2010/11, giving the region the fourth-highest rate of out 10 in the country. For women the region had the fifth highest rate, 584 per 100,000 of population.