So unfair... men are best at losing weight

Male dieters lose twice as much as women in biggest-ever study

The latest comparative dieting study ever conducted has found that men are far better at losing weight than women. The six-month study, conducted by Surrey University, monitored 300 volunteers who were attempting to slim using Britain's four most popular diets.

At the end of the trial 13 out of the top 20 dieters were male, even though men made up only 30 per cent of the participants. On average, men on the trial lost twice as much weight as women, even though all the dieters were randomly allocated one of four different eating programmes - Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, Rosemary Conley or Dr Atkins.

Final results

The study is being carried out for BBC1's Diet Trials, which is being screened every weekday at 7.00pm. The final results, including a verdict on which of the four diets was most successful will be screened on Wednesday, April 2, in the UK.

Lyndel Costain, an independent dietician who monitored the dieters' progress, said that men seemed to lose more weight than women no matter which diet they followed. "What's especially interesting about this," says Costain, "is that the diets were randomly allocated, so men seem to lose more weight whatever eating programme they are on.

"We found that the Atkins Diet, however, seemed to be the most effective for men, because you can eat a lot of meat on it and you don't need to think about portion size."

The Atkins Diet was developed by the American cardiologist Dr Robert Atkins and advocates a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein. Adherents can eat eggs, bacon, steak and cheese, but must exclude bread, pasta and starchy vegetables.

Costain added that men were also more prone to lose weight because of their higher metabolic rates and inherent competitiveness: "Once men put their mind to something, they are generally determined to make it work. It's male competitiveness and there's probably also a desire not to look silly on telly.

"Men are also bigger than women. They have more muscle and their metabolism and calorie need is higher. They tend automatically to be a bit more active. Also, their self-esteem isn't generally linked to their body image. Men tend not to comfort eat as much, while a lot of women are still more involved in shopping and cooking than men and so have more exposure to food."

The dieting volunteers filmed for the 14-part series were aged between 21 and 60 and were all classed as overweight or obese as defined by their Body Mass Index, which is the relationship between a person's height and weight. The series will ultimately find which diet works best for which sort of person.

Emotional issues

Dr Helen Truby, a lecturer in nutrition and diet topics at Surrey University and one of the study's co-ordinators, said that while some of the male weight loss could be explained by the fact that men weighed more to start with, this did not account for all of the difference.

"Men and women on all the diets lost weight, so there wasn't a clear, front-running 'best diet'," she said. "But it was clear that men have fewer emotional issues around food and are often helped by very supportive partners, so find it easier to lose weight."

Julia Barrett, a 55-year-old managing director of a computer software company from Stoke St Michael in Somerset, followed the Weight Watchers "points" diet alongside her husband, Paul.

The Weight Watchers system allocates points to different foods and enables dieters to choose what they eat within the limit of their daily points allowance.

At the end of the six months, Paul had lost 35lbs, with Julia languishing behind on 28lbs.

"What really miffs me is that Paul can eat so much more than me and still lose weight," said Julia, who is 5feet 7inches tall. "I started off at 13 1/2 stone and want to get down to 10 1/2. I've still got 5lb to go. Paul is almost at his ideal weight of 14 stone. I can't think why he's better at losing weight than me - I suppose it's just one of those things. Life's not fair."

Paul, a retired ambulance paramedic who is 52 and 6feet 2inches tall, even enjoyed a gastronomic weekend in Paris while on the diet, but still lost weight on his return. Paul said: "I really overate in the Jules Verne restaurant half way up the Eiffel Tower. I tried to work out how many points I'd had and it came out as 59. I'm only meant to have 28 a day."

Diet Trials does offer some consolation for women. The dieter who lost most weight during the six-month test was female.