College women more weight-conscious than men

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) Women are more likely to think they need to lose weight than men are, and more likely to diet, a new study of college students shows.

''These findings are in agreement with reports of women's tendency to hold stronger beliefs related to nutrition than men,'' Dr. Judy A. Driskell of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and colleagues write. ''Though men have some sensitivity to body fat, women are much more sensitive.'' Eating habits tend to worsen in the young adult years, and college students often eat too much fat and sodium and too few fruits and vegetables, according to Driskell and her team. They investigated how a student's gender influenced their eating habits and beliefs about nutrition by surveying 286 undergraduates.

Among men, 45.2 per cent were overweight or obese, compared to 13.9 per cent of women. But 57.4 per cent of the women said they needed to lose weight, compared to 28.6 per cent of the men.

Women were also more likely than men to say they ate too much sugar (59.7 per cent vs 41.9 per cent), and to say that it's important to limit carbohydrate consumption (46.4 per cent vs 27.6 percent). Among the women, 71.4 per cent agreed that it is important to eat less fat to lose weight, while 52.4 per cent of held this omen.

Among men, 79.1 per cent said they had never tried dieting, compared to 65.6 per cent of women.

The findings show that men and women have different perceptions of some nutrition issues, the researchers note. They conclude: ''Registered dietitians and other health professionals should take these differences into account when developing nutrition education materials for college students and other young adults.'' Reuters SP GC0835