New research presented at an international conference has suggested that men and women prefer different foods, with men more likely to say they prefer meat while women more likely to say they prefer fruits and vegetables.

The findings were presented yesterday, 19th March, at the 2008 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICEID) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and are the result of a population survey by the Foodborne Disease Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet).

The survey, which took place from May 2006 to April 2007, asked over 14,000 adult American men and women questions about their eating habits, including foods at high risk of foodborne illnesses.

The investigators had such a rich and varied amount of data they thought it might be interesting to see if there were any gender differences among the responses.

Lead researcher Beletshachew Shiferaw said they were aware of some studies into the differences in eating habits between men and women but none as extensive as this one.

The results showed that:

  • Men were more likely to report eating meat and poultry, especially duck, veal and ham.

  • Men were also more likely to report eating shellfish, such as shrimp and oysters.

  • Women were more likely to report eating vegetables and fruits, especially carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples.

  • Women were more likely to report eating dried foods such as almonds and walnuts.

  • And women were also more likely to report eating eggs and yogurt, compared to men.

  • There were some exceptions to the apparent trend: for instance men were significantly more likely to report eating asparagus and brussel sprouts while women were more likely to report eating fresh hamburgers (as opposed to frozen, which men preferred more than women).

  • When it came to risky foods (ie those more likely to carry foodborne illnesses), men were significantly more likely to eat undercooked hamburger and runny eggs while women were more likely to eat alfalfa sprouts.

Setting the obvious curiosity factor aside, an important reason for this investigation was to help develop and target public awareness raising and prevention campaigns more effectively, explained Shiferaw:

“The reason we looked at consumption and risky behaviors was to see if there was a statistically significant difference between men and women and if there is this information could be used by health educators to target interventions.”

The ICEID conference was organized by the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, the American Society for Microbiology, the Association of Public Health Laboratories and the World Health Organization.

Sources: American Society for Microbiology press statement.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD