Part 1 –Introduction
Dieting and weight loss efforts are personal challenges, but they cannot be separated from the social context in which they occur. Consistent behavioral gender differences have been revealed in the area of food choices. An individual’s choice of food depends on a variety of factors and has consequential effects towards the behavior of human beings that result into choice of some specific food products. People of all genders aim at maintaining good body shapes and good health in the contemporary society. Women think that men can lose weight very easily.
The following research focuses on the gender differences in diet, concentrating more on the significant impacts eating behaviors have on individuals based on the gender.
Eating a healthy, balanced diet provides nutrients to one’s body. These nutrients give people energy and keep their heart and brain active, and the muscles working. Nutrients build and strengthen bones, muscles, and tendons and help in regulating body processes, such as blood pressure. Good nutrition can lower the risk of developing a range of chronic diseases. Of importance is that improving ones eating habits will contribute to their achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
Extreme dieting arises from the fact that the individual concerned pushes their limits to levels that are beyond their potential and capabilities. Weight gain sooner or later becomes a bother to the individuals in question and who are essentially compelled to take the move to lose some weight through dieting.
The first symptoms dieters on low calorie diets may experience are a lack of energy and mood changes. There is a natural tendency for women to be conscious about their looks hence are keep to watch out for the kind of food they consume. Men are also committed to lose weight as their women counterparts though with a different perspective view. Men are more focused on physical fitness and masculinity aspect of it and so may not be attributed as weight losing as such. Hence they are nutritionally savvy as they want to maintain fitness and gain stability as opposed to losing weight and avoid calories.
Women hence consider themselves as overweight with additional extra weight and this makes them uncomfortable as they are keen on watching their weight in every instance contrary to their male counterparts who consider weight gain as a show of masculinity and a sense of manliness.
This research paper played a significant role in establishing gender roles in dieting and eating habits of both men and women. Forty college students aged between 18 and 25 years were interviewed by use of a questionnaire.
Part II- Conclusion
All reported data are consistent with the view that women generally show a tendency to perform healthier food choices and are much more concerned about the importance of food choice and eating behaviour to stay in a good physical shape than men. This attitude is also reflected by dietary practices and those who would prefer undergoing dietary programmes. There was a consistent trend according to gender. In conclusion, the broad message extrapolated from this systematic survey, in strong accordance with other recent studies (Berbesque, 2009; Marino et al., 2011), is to stress the importance of considering a gender specific approach, both in terms of behaviours and of physiology, when addressing nutrition issues in research and in policy making.
As a matter of fact, a more detailed informative basis would help the formulation of suitable monitoring programs in the research side, and an increasing effectiveness of policy interventions in respect of different population groups.
Issues pertaining to body weight perception, eating attitudes and weight-loss strategies prevailed with significant differences between male and female students. More in-depth studies should be done to identify socio-cultural factors that may influence weight perceptions among young adults. From the already documented data by scholars in this field illustrate a clear depiction of a very adamant population that is so versatile in terms of food preference in as far as health concerns and weight gain is concerned. While most youthful women are so keen to check on their calories in take in every meal, men less concerned about quantities of calories and fats in their diets. This is not however the situation in all cases as there are a couple of other cases that significantly demonstrates the complete reverse from the known perception. This is a case where women are lovers of fast food or junk that is ready for consumption without minding the subsequent effect on their bodies with reference to weight gain. There is a section of the population that is minded more about the diversity of the foods on the shelf and nothing about their calories content and other ingredients that have effect n their physical stature and health wellbeing. On the other hand, there are men who are more than conscious about what they eat at any given time. They have disciplined themselves to a particular number of meals a day which is balanced and healthy to their bodies. Hence such disparities are bound to occur in the course of research and as they say every rule has an exception and this is just one of such.
Results
Primary Data
The majority of the participants or interviewers of the survey are women standing at 25 out of the 40 participants. They were all youthful respondents between the ages of 18-25 years. From the sample participants, 37 of the interviewers stated that they knew about dieting with 3 stating that is was their first time hearing of such. 30 out of the possible 40 participants construed that it is the female population that is more concerned about aspects of dieting than their male counterparts. The respondents were also asked about if they would wish to lose and how. 65 % stated that they would be willing while the remaining 35 % claimed that they were okay and did not require any dieting to cut down on their weight. Of those of were willing to reduce weight majority demonstrated that they preferred practical or traditional approach to 70% while the remaining 30% showed interest in using weighting losing pills among other conventional strategies. 80 % of the respondents demonstrated that dieting was available approach however the major obstacle mentioned is the discipline required to abide by a specific dietary program that limits one from freely eating what they like.
Graphical representation
