There are some considerable gender-specific differences in many areas of nutrition. Several of them already emerge in childhood or adolescence. Women have a higher awareness and better knowledge of nutrition than men. They also seek nutrition counselling more frequently than men do. Women eat more fruits, vegetables, cereals, milk, dairy products and whole grain products, whereas the consumption of red meat, particularly pork, sausages, eggs, alcohol, high sucrose foods is higher in men. Gender-specific differences are also obvious as far as nutrient intake and recommendations for the dietary allowances are concerned. Men's approach towards nutrition is uncomplicated and pleasure orientated whereas women rather have an ambivalent attitude. They are less satisfied with their weight. Restrained eating, dieting and eating disorders are much more common in women. Men, however, control their weight with exercising and implement diets only for health reasons. Women are more often affected by problems with their eating behaviour, such as craving for special foods, than men are. The reasons for the different eating behaviours and the different attitudes towards nutrition can be found in psychological and socio-cultural factors. Prevalence of obesity is similar between the sexes, men are however more frequently overweight. Typically their body fat is distributed viscerally, which is associated with a higher risk of associated diseases. On the other hand visceral body fat can be reduced more easily and the potential benefits of weight loss are higher in people with visceral fat distribution. ß 2005 WPMH GmbH. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Successful tobacco control may result in a higher dependence among the remaining smokers (due to selective quitting by low-dependent smokers). The remaining highly dependent smokers may need more intensive treatment.

Complaints about a bad quality of sleep could be used as a screening method in the exploration of patients' quality of life (QoL).

This study was based on a SUlvey of a representative sample of 1000 Austrians who were questioned about their sleep and dream behavior. About two-thirds of the respondents reported that they generally recalled at least one dream per month. Dream recall frequency decreased with advancing age, but did not differ between men and women. Fifty-five percent of the respondents characterized the affective content of their dreams: 29% reported neutral, 20% positive, and 6% negative dreams. Four percent of the sample reported suffering from nightmares. These respondents more frequently reported snoring, interrupted sleep, daytime somnolence, anxiety and nervousness, depression, high dream recall, recurrent dreams, and dreaming in color. Twenty-six percent of the total sample reported that sometimes they realized during their dreams that they were dreaming. These respondents more frequently reported family problems, high dream recall, positive dream content, recurrent dreams, dreaming in color, and nightmares.