Men healthier and happier than women

Men are healthier and happier than women in general, a survey by PatrickHolford.com revealed today. Health and Happiness, a nationwide study of 2,000 men and women found that men reported a higher rate of happiness when it came to their weight, shape, appearance, and the way they are perceived by others (55 per cent). Women, on the other hand, were more self-conscious and slightly less satisfied with their happiness levels at around 49 per cent. Women are also much more likely to try dieting (71 per cent) compared to men (47 per cent).

Leading nutrition expert, Patrick Holford said: “The general perception is that women are more health conscious, but what this survey shows is that women do actually have more health issues to deal with, especially relating to digestion, mood, anxiety and sleep. The results also show that respondents, regardless of their gender, considered the absence of disease to be an indicator of good health. But being healthy means more than that – it’s abundance of well-being indicated by good energy levels, a stable mood and a sharp mind, all of which achieve optimum health.”

Men don’t feel stressed as often either. Almost 60 per cent of male respondents said they only felt stressed once a month, whereas 60 per cent of women said they felt anxious once a week or more.

Over 70 per cent of men also claim they rarely felt depressed or had mood swings, compared to half of women (50 per cent) who admitted to feeling low or unhappy at least once a month, if not more. Male respondents reported that they were less likely to have trouble sleeping at night – 51 per cent said restless sleep occurred around once a week or more, compared to 60 per cent of women.
Headaches, bloating or poor digestion were less of a problem among men. Almost half (49 per cent) said they rarely got headaches, compared to 64 per cent women who said they experienced them at least once a month or more. For 70 per cent of men, bloating and poor digestion would only occur once a month or less, but almost half (43 per cent) of women said it was a weekly or daily problem.
Men also reported higher satisfaction levels when it came to their professional lives, from job security (51 per cent) and salary (45 per cent) through to career prospects (46 per cent) and overall finances (50 per cent).
The survey also revealed the healthiest and happiest cities in the UK: Londoners rated themselves as healthiest with 59 per cent describing themselves as ‘healthy’ against a national average of 54 per cent.  Levels of alcohol consumed in London were 5.5 units per week as opposed to Manchester which saw an average of 6.7 units, and a whopping 79 per cent of Londoners are non-smokers.
Half the people from London do at least 20 minutes of exercise a week or more, but more people in Cardiff do regular exercise (54 per cent).  Sheffiel;d is the city where people get most sleep with 40 per cent of them saying that they have seven hours a night, compared to a low national average of 34 per cent. The people who have most illness and smoke the most appear to be those in Birmingham, according to the survey. Dieters in Bristol were the most successful and Scots in Edinburgh have least sleep with over 70 per cent saying that they have restless nights or difficulty sleeping with high levels of stress and anxiety.

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