Is this why British blokes love to BBQ? Men eat more meat in countries like the UK where there is greater equality between the sexes, study claims

With summer just around the corner now, men across the UK will finally be preparing to fire up the BBQ. 

Now, a study has shed light on exactly why it is that British men love their meat so much. 

Researchers from the University of Zurich say that men eat more meat – and women less – in countries with greater equality between the sexes.

Exactly why this is remains unclear. 

However, the researchers suggest that men in these countries may more meat to demonstrate their masculinity, as eating meat is seen to be more manly.

The authors suggest one possibility is that when women get greater equality, both men and women are freer to express their food preferences. 

Previous research has found that women are more likely to avoid meat altogether and be vegan, or vegetarian than men.

The findings were found to be true in countries with the highest gender equality, with the UK, along with Germany, Poland and Argentina topping the league.

The study’s authors looked at 23 countries and survey responses from 20,802 participants in countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. 

Participants reported their gender and how frequently they ate meat.

With summer just around the corner now, men across the UK will finally be preparing to fire up the BBQ. Now, a study has shed light on exactly why it is that British men love their meat so much (stock image)

The results revealed that — with the exception of China, India, and Indonesia — men tended to eat meat more frequently than women across their study.

Perhaps less surprisingly, the researchers also found that men and women from countries with higher levels of gender equality and social and economic development tended to eat meat more often than those from countries with lower levels of social and economic development.

Overall meat consumption was highest in Thailand, China, the USA, and Spain.

The authors called their findings a ‘paradox’, as it might be thought that as men and women become more equal, their diets should in theory become more similar as well. 

The authors note that ‘there is evidence that vegetarian men are viewed as less attractive than omnivorous men in some cultures, demonstrating that cultural differences connect gender norms with masculinity-linked behaviors’.