The average man was more than a stone heavier in 2000 than he was in 1986, prompting warnings of a “ticking time bomb” for health yesterday.
Researchers at the British Heart Foundation (BHF warned of a “Jim Royle” generation of men, who ate more calories and did less exercise than the average man just 15 years earlier.
Jim Royle, played by actor Ricky Tomlinson, is a character in the TV series The Royle Family and apparently spends all his life sitting on a couch.
Scientists from Oxford University’s BHF Health Promotion Research Group analysed changes in food consumption data and body weight over the 15-year time period.
The average man in 2000 ate more food than the average 1986 man, enough to make him 4.7kg heavier than his forebear. However, their research, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, revealed that the actual increase in average male weight of 7.7kg.
They believe a reduction in physical activity was behind the increased weight, as well as the extra food.
Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This research suggests a ticking time bomb for male health, and underlines the importance of both regular exercise and a balanced diet in keeping your weight down and your heart healthy. The number of obese men is not going down.”
Bigger men are at higher risk of heart disease. 25 per cent of men in England were classed as obese in 2008, compared with only seven per cent in 1986/7.
Dr Peter Scarborough, who led the research, said: “There could be a number of reasons for the reduction in exercise. One partial explanation could be that men spend more of their working lives sitting at desks now – manual careers are less common than they used to be.
“It’s clear people are eating more, and today we’re seeing a continued increase in the amount of food available.”
British Journal of Nutrition December 27 2010
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