ISLAMABAD, Nov 5: Over 70 per cent people prefer reducing their weight through diet and only 20 per cent prefer to do so through regular exercises, according to a survey conducted by Gallup.

The survey says about 38 per cent people use foods containing less fats, 37 per cent reduce quantity of food and 20 per cent do different exercises to reduce their weight.

It says 22 per cent Pakistani adult men and women said they had lately taken some steps for reducing their weight. The figure is higher among women than men. It is also higher among the upper income groups, it says.

The survey was conducted among a national sample of men and women in both rural and urban areas of all the four provinces of the country.

They represented a statistical cross-section of various age, income and social strata of the society.

According to the survey findings, 28 per cent women and 17 per cent men say they have adopted some steps for controlling their weight. The major motivation for diet control is a concern about being overweight, as 66 per cent or two-third gave that response. The remaining one-third (34 per cent) of the respondents are motivated by various medical reasons.

The highest medical reason quoted by the respondents (11 per cent) was “to control cholesterol” and “diabetics”. Another 18 per cent gave the general response that they were advised by their doctors to control weight. The remaining 2 per cent gave miscellaneous responses.

The motivation to control diet for reducing their weight was higher among women than men as nearly 75 per cent gave this reason. Among men concern about cholesterol was noticeably higher (16 per cent) compared to women (3 per cent).