DR MICHAEL MOSLEY: Why new weight-loss jab works better for women than men

A few years ago my wife Clare was startled when a patient came into her GP surgery and said lightly, 'My husband is beating me.'

Fortunately, this was not a case of domestic violence: what the patient was really complaining about was that she and her husband had gone on the 5:2 diet at the same time and he was losing more weight than her.

Clare pointed out that although men do typically lose more weight when they go on a diet, women experience similar health benefits, certainly when it comes to key measures such as blood sugar control, even when they don't lose as much weight.

But surprisingly, new research shows that women seem to do better than men when given new weight-loss drugs, such as semaglutide (brand names Wegovy or Ozempic).

This is important given that earlier this week Rishi Sunak announced a 40 million pilot scheme to allow GPs to prescribe them.

So why do men lose more weight when they go on a diet? It's probably because we tend to be musclier and have a higher metabolic rate, which means we are burning more calories when sitting down and even when asleep.