The Great British Body – Age & gender

Do bad hair days get you down? Can a pimple ruin your day? If so, you’re not alone. A lot of people admit their looks have a massive affect on how they feel. It has the biggest impact on those in their 30s and 40s, with 23 percent of both groups saying their looks were ‘extremely’ important to their happiness. The 20s are just behind at 21 percent. The least bothered are those in those in their 60s, 14 percent of whom said their looks don’t matter 'at all'. 

When it comes to men and women, the fairer sex are much vainer – 23% of ladies agree their looks are ‘extremely’ important, twice that amount said their looks were ‘quite important’  and only 1.1% said their looks weren’t important ‘at all’ to the way they felt. Of the men, 12% said their looks were ‘extremely’ important, 46% said ‘quite’ important and 4% said ‘not at all’. 

One in four people in their 20s admit they’re constantly on a diet. This may seem high, but they’re actually the group with the smallest number of people cutting the calories. Those in their 50s are most likely, with 40 percent admitting they’re always dieting. Those within other age groups were roughly the same, with an average of 30 percent trying to shed the pounds. 

It may not come as a massive shock to learn more women are trying to lose weight than men – with 27% of females and 11% of men admitting they’re constantly dieting. Not everyone’s trying to shed the pounds though – a third of women and 61 percent of men said they’d never been on a diet. 

It's not just weight people want to change, but body shape. Those in their 40s are the most unhappy, with the majority disliking their stomach, waist, bum and upper arms more than other age groups. People in their 20s and 30s are the happiest, with about 40 percent happy with their appearance. Those in their 20s liked their bums, chest and teeth more then any other group.

Overall, 40 percent of men are happy with their appearance, compared to 35 percent of women.  But, when it comes to particular features though, like face, chest, bums and arms most men are ‘indifferent’ about their looks. Women have much stronger feelings - with a higher percentage loathing some body parts, such as upper legs and weight.