ALMOST ONE third of Irish adults have been on a diet in the past year, according to a new survey.
It also found that 83 per cent of women described themselves as health conscious compared with 62 per cent of men.
The Lansdowne Market Research study for Kelloggs involved surveying 1,000 over 18-year-olds in June.
It found that women were motivated to diet for reasons such as an upcoming special occasion (55 per cent) or a holiday (37 per cent), while 67 per cent of men said they dieted for health reasons.
Only 3 per cent of those surveyed said that celebrity dieting behaviour encouraged them to watch their waistlines.
The survey also highlighted the differing dieting methods of men and women. Some 44 per cent of women were most concerned with calories when they dieted while almost half of men surveyed were more interested in the fat content of their foods. An extra 10 per cent of people ate breakfast when they dieted, according to the survey.
Some 61 per cent of people said they had a "fairly positive" or "very positive" perception of their body shape while 15 per cent felt "fairly negative" or "very negative" about their figures.
Despite the perception that younger people were very self-conscious about their bodies, the survey found that 18-24 year olds were most comfortable in their own skin (34 per cent).
That confidence decreased with age with only 5 per cent of 45-54 year olds happy with their figures. However, confidence began to increase from 55 years onwards, with 15 per cent of the over 55s saying they were comfortable "right now" with their body shape.
