It's men who are the real chocoholics

For years advertisers have reinforced the view that a craving for chocolate is a distinctly female weakness.

Endless commercials have shown young women crumbling flakes into their mouths or being visited by strangers in the night bearing boxes of sweet delights.

But researchers claim it is men, not women, who are the true chocoholics.

Three in five men now snack on chocolate compared with just half of women, according to the report by analysts Mintel.

They claim it is because weightobsessed women are ditching sugary foods and buying Atkins-style alternatives containing fewer calories and carbohydrates.

But that conclusion was immediately challenged by nutrition experts, who said the figures could have been skewed by dietconscious women who are afraid to admit they are still snacking on fattening foods.

The survey of 1,000 adults found that more than three-quarters of women now claim to eat healthy snacks, compared to just twothirds of men.

Nearly twice as many women (13 per cent) as men (8 per cent) choose vegetables to snack on, and 62 per cent of women eat fruit when they feel peckish, compared to 51 per cent of men.

As well as eating chocolate, less healthy men also favour oldfashioned stodge with a fifth of males saying they enjoy pies and pasties, as opposed to only one in ten women. Claire Hatcher, consumer analyst for Mintel, said: 'For years we have always assumed that women are

the real chocoholics but this is simply not the case.

'People may have assumed this because women will often make a bigger deal out of eating chocolate, seeing it as a treat while on a diet or while watching their weight. Men on the other hand tend to just tuck in whenever.

'Women on the whole are more health-conscious than men. They are almost twice as likely as men to be on a diet and are more likely than men to eat the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.'

But food experts were last night sceptical about the survey's findings. Dr Hannah Theobald, a nutritionist with the British Nutrition Foundation, said: 'It's a really common phenomenon that people are not honest about what they eat in food surveys.

'Research I've seen says women eat more chocolate than men. The trouble is people tend to say what they think is the right thing to do. This could be what is happening here.

'But this survey suggests that the healthy eating message is getting through.

'People who tend to snack on high calorie and high fat foods, like chocolate, run the risk of becoming overweight. This can lead to heart disease and diabetes.'

The survey found that chocolate is still the second most popular snack in Britain with 53 per cent of adults choosing to eat it. In fact chocolate has become more popular since 2002.

The most popular snack is fresh fruit with 57 per cent of adults claiming to prefer it during food breaks.