From The Times...
Warning: shopping damages men's health
BY CLAUDIA JOSEPH
RETAIL therapy may be soothing for women, but shopping can be bad for
men's health. Researchers have discovered that men's heart rates rise
and stress levels soar as they venture into the shops.
Doctors monitored 16 men and 19 women aged between 22 and 79 as they
went shopping alone, in couples or with their children, for a list of
five items in Oxford Street, Central London. Their heart rate was
recorded from a watch on their wrists, their saliva was analysed and
they wore special glasses to record a visual diary of their
experiences.
All the men recorded a considerable increase in blood pressure and
heart rates when they went shopping, compared with just one in four
women. Even the thought of shopping sent stress levels soaring in 70
per cent of the men, with loud music in Top Shop provoking the highest
readings for 65 per cent.
One man who was shopping with his wife and two children recorded a
blood pressure of 172 over 104 and a heart rate of 97 beats a minute
compared with the average blood pressure of 120 over 80 and average
heart rate of 72 beats per minute.
Almost all the women questioned regretted taking their partners
shopping with them. And most recorded lower stress levels shopping
with their children than with their partners.
David Lewis, a psychologist who studied the survey, commissioned by
the Brent Cross Shopping Centre in North London, said: "These findings
must surely be the best possible gift to many men this Christmas.
There has never been a better excuse to avoid seasonal shopping."
Alfred Phillips, 88, a widower from London, bought all this year's
Christmas presents at the same time because he dislikes shopping so
much.
He said: "I hate it. I only go shopping when I have to. I find it a
real drag. I've never allowed myself to be dragged around the shops. I
just refuse to do it."
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