Why men aren’t getting their (breakfast) oats! Study shows how men and women’s eating habits differ
Real men don’t eat quiche, the saying goes – and now science seems to have proven it.
A study has revealed major differences between the eating habits of the sexes, with women preferring eggs and vegetables and men preferring red meat.
How and when we eat also varies. For example, men are more likely to skip breakfast, as only 4.4 percent of men feel hungry when they wake up, compared to twice as many women.
Women were more likely to snack in the afternoon – 34 percent compared to 26 percent of men – and ate more often, with 35 percent eating five times a day, compared to 26 percent of men.
Boys are more often fast eaters (80 percent versus 64 percent) and eat alone and outside the home more often.
For example, men are more likely to skip breakfast, as only 4.4 percent of men feel hungry when they wake up, compared to twice as many women
A study has found major differences between the eating habits of the sexes, with women preferring eggs and vegetables and men preferring red meat.
Men prefer salty and bitter tastes, while women prefer sweet flavors – a legacy of evolution, researchers suggest, thanks to thousands of years of men hunting for meat while women picked fruit.
Researchers believe that hormonal variations between the sexes also explain many of the differences.
About 2,200 men and women aged 30 to 45 were surveyed about their eating habits and preferences for the study, published in the journal Frontiers In Nutrition.
Nine in ten men in the study regularly ate red meat, compared to three-quarters of women, who had a greater preference for chocolate.
Dr. Mauro Lombardo, professor of human nutrition at Italy’s San Raffaele Roma Open University, who led the research, said: ‘Women have a much more anarchic approach to food. They tend to eat between meals a lot more, skip meals and be messy.
‘At the same time, they are much more aware of food choices than men. Women know much more about the properties of different foods and about which foods can harm them or be good for their health.
‘I think these differences may also explain why low-calorie diets are often more effective for men than for women. Our research shows nuanced differences between male and female dietary patterns.’