MEN in East Lancashire are less likely to look after themselves than women, according to doctors.

And East Lancashire doctors questioned in the nationwide survey said local men did not take responsibility for their own health.

The survey of 370 doctors by Middlesex University professor Colin Francome found men all over Britain were less likely to take care of their health than women -- but men in the North West were worse than most.

North West doctors estimated only 42 per cent of their male patients bothered about their health, compared to 46 per cent nationwide.

Local women are healthier than their men -- doctors estimate 58 per cent take care of themselves, but this is also below the national average of 60 per cent.

Prof Francome said doctors in East Lancashire were concerned that their patients did not take control of their own well-being.

He said: "Doctors stressed that many people in the area thought health was the doctor's job. "They also thought good health or disease were things that just happened -- it was down to luck."

Prof Francome said both sexes were likely to eat too much and not exercise enough, but men drank and smoked more than women, and suffered more heart disease and cancers.

He said: "Men are much more likely to be involved in accidents, and they are also four times more likely to commit suicide than women."

The average British man dies eight years before the average woman, compared to only two years earlier a century ago.

Women now live longer due to improvements in dealing with childbirth, said Prof Francome.