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Men who remarry appear to put their feet up - tending to do less exercise and putting on weight, researchers have found.

The Harvard School of Public Health study suggested their weight gain may be due to marriage improving men's 'bachelor' eating habits.

But the marital demands on their time appear to prevent them making it to the gym to work off the calories.

The study is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

It followed over 38,000 men aged between 40 and 75 between 1986 and 1994. All the men were healthcare professionals taking part in a long term study into chronic illness.

The men were asked about their marital status at least twice during this period.

They were also asked to complete detailed questionnaires about their dietary and exercise habits, and how much they smoke and drank.

The study did not look at how marital status affected women's health.

Unhealthy divorcees

It was found that remarriage did appear to improve men's diets.

They reduced their alcohol intake, ate more vegetables and lean poultry and had fewer sugary drinks than peers who were divorced or bereaved.

The dietary benefits were greater for younger men who remarried after the loss of a spouse.

But, in contrast to the positive change in eating habits, men who remarried did appear to exercise less, and to gain weight.

When the researchers studied the health of widowers they found that, compared to those who stayed married over a four-year period, they drank more and ate far fewer vegetables.

Divorced men lost weight, but also smoke and drank more than other groups.

Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the research team led by Dr Patricia Mona Eng, said: "Remarriage was not linked to an increase in activity levels.

"Instead, formerly solitary men experienced relative decline along with weight gain upon remarrying."

They speculate: "Time demands of a new spousal role may preclude routine exercise.

"Married life may also bring regularity to meal patterns and increased food intake via social facilitation."

Professor Ben Fletcher, of the British Psychological Society, said: "The men who remarry are likely to become more sedentary, and there's an increase in social support - which can have a powerful effect on health and well-being."

Professor Fletcher, head of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, added that there were other studies showing men coped less well with losing a partner.

"With men, unlike women, you do see an increase in mortality risk in the six months after a bereavement."

BBC News

Surgeons are perfecting a way to build up the size of very small penises, enabling proper urination, and a full sex life.

It is estimated that about one in 200 men is born with what is known as a micro-penis.

Whereas the average size of the human penis is around 12.5cm (5 inches), a micro-penis spans less than 7cm.

University College London surgeons will present their work to the European Society for Sexual Medicine.

A micro-penis can develop from inadequate levels of the male sex hormone testosterone during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, or from an inability to respond to testosterone in the normal way.

In the past doctors have recommended gender reassignment, so the child was brought up as a girl, but this is a practice which has ceased in recent years.

However, there are a number of treatments available.

The UCL team has been refining a technique called phalloplasty, or penile enlargement.

This involves cutting a flap of skin from the patient's forearm and shaping it into a penis four or five inches long.

To maintain erogenous sensation, the original penis is incorporated into the surface of the transplanted skin.

Patients receive a urethra to enable them to urinate, and an inflatable penile prosthesis to allow an erection to engage in sexual intercourse.

Successful surgery

UCL surgeons performed the operation on nine men aged 19 to 43 with a range of medical backgrounds, including three hermaphrodites and two men who had problems with androgen (the group of hormones which includes testosterone), one of whom became deficient in androgen after chemotherapy.

Following surgery, all patients were found to be satisfied with the cosmetic appearance of their penis, with four patients able to urinate standing up and four able to have regular sexual intercourse.

However, in several cases multiple complications arose, such as an infection or a shift in the prosthesis position, with subsequent revision operations needed.

Dr David Ralph, of UCL's Institute of Urology, said: "This operation can change the life of young men, improving their self-esteem and quality of life and allowing many of them to have sexual intercourse, sometimes for the first time in their life.

"However, patients should be aware of the high risk of complications from this procedure."

BBC News

Teenage female students in the Thai capital, Bangkok, are demanding tougher action against sex pests who are taking advantage of mobile phone technology.

They have called for harsher penalties against males who use mobile phones to take pictures underneath their skirts.

Some of the photos have been posted on pornographic websites.

Under Thai law, such offences are deemed petty crimes which carry a fine of $25 and in exceptional circumstances a one month prison sentence.

Students say the fine is not enough, especially when such pictures can fetch many times that amount if sold to pornographic sites.

"The government should clamp down on this problem before it escalates totally out of control," said Vilaiporn Tonmai-gan, a 20 year old student from Somdej University in Bangkok.

"Its growth shows just how moral standards have deteriorated, in Thailand, where such incidents have appeared in television soap operas.

A recent high-profile incident involved a female representative at a motor exhibition, who sued a finance ministry official for sneaking his camera under her skirt and taking photographs.

'Crowded places'

He was sentenced to one month in prison and received a $25 fine. But his jail sentence was stayed in exchange for a community service order.

Police say they are trying to combat the problem but taking action against offenders can sometimes be difficult.

"Such people usually loiter around crowded public places such as overpasses or bus queues where it is difficult to prove what they are doing," said Waris Sonkaew from Thonglor Police station in Bangkok.

"We accept that people who carry out these crimes should be more heavily punished," he said. "But it is difficult to file charges because it is hard to prove the pictures have been distributed and because in most cases the offender has not physically touched the victim.

BBC News

The Brazilian city of Salvador is this week hosting the first World Tourism Forum, and one of the main items on the agenda is how to combat the menace of child sex tourism. The BBC's Steve Kingstone reports from Recife, one of the centres of the Brazilian sex tourism industry.

The UN estimates that two million young people under the age of 18 are involved in prostitution.

Traditionally the trade has been associated with Asia. But in recent years, Brazil has become an increasingly popular destination.

There's a paradise quality to Recife on the country's north-east coast.

Not the paradise of desert islands and solitude but a more earthly variety, with vibrant beaches and beautiful people.

The latter is the attraction for a growing number of foreign tourists who come to Brazil looking for sex, and in many cases they are willing to pay for it.

There is a growing demand, mostly from Germans, Italians and other Europeans, says Sessie Prostrello of campaign group Mulia Vida.

They come here not for the culture and beaches, she says, but for sex, often with minors.

The age of consent in Brazil is 18, but many of those at work here are much younger.

Family business

As I drive along the main road a block back from the beach at 1am, it is lined with young women flagging down drivers for sex.

A car stops just up ahead of me. Some of these girls are shockingly young - perhaps 12 or 13 years old.

In a bar where foreign men meet Brazilians, I was approached by Paula who said she was 19 but seemed younger. She was with her mother.

Paula explained that she was looking for a man who could give her a better life in Europe. She said her two sisters were already in Germany.

Later, a Brazilian BBC colleague spoke to Paula's mother, who said Paula could come to my hotel that night - it was for me to name the price.

A mother prostituting her own daughter may seem shocking, but in the end it comes down to basic economics.

Brazil has a supply of young girls desperate to escape poverty, and the demand from foreign men is rising all the time.

Changing trends

Recife's secretary for tourism, Romeo Batista, says the long-term antidote to the sex trade lies in better social policies so that Brazilian girls have less need for foreign men and money.

But on the question of short-term solutions, he was somewhat defensive.

"Prostitutes exist everywhere - look at Paris for example. "Here they just happen to work in highly visible areas, and it's not just a question of getting them off the streets.

"You have to deter their clients, which is why we've installed cameras which also help reduce violence."

Campaigners say the rise of sex tourism in Brazil is partly a consequence of its relative decline elsewhere.

As the authorities have become stricter in east Asia, for example, some of the trade has shifted to Latin America.

But Brazil is also a victim of its own marketing.

In travel brochures the country is portrayed as a land of samba and sensuality. Posters often show half-naked women.

Sergio Folgill is the Brazilian president of this week's World Tourism Forum. He says sex tourism is perhaps inevitable, but it is up to the authorities not to encourage it through marketing.

"Look, sex is part of our life. It can be a very healthy part of our life," he says.

"The question is the use of sex to attract tourism. When it tends to be an attraction for new tourists to come, here is where we have a problem."

Selling Brazil as a sexy country but without encouraging sex tourism is a delicate balance which has perhaps yet to be struck.

BBC News

Prostitutes have rejected a Plymouth MP's call for a new "managed" red light zone in the city. Labour MP Linda Gilroy made the suggestion following the end of council consultation on the issue.

It comes as some residents in parts of the city call for action to stop their areas becoming new red light districts.

The English Collective of Prostitutes said forcing women into zones would be unworkable and did not tackle the causes of prostitution.

Residents in Mutley Plain fear that their streets could be used by prostitutes as the traditional red light area around Millbay is redeveloped for upmarket housing.

Ms Gilroy said: "They haven't got a prostitution problem at the moment, but they are worried that as Millbay is redeveloped it will move up there.

"We should be able to do it in a managed way, a way which takes it away from anyone's back yard.

"It could put it into the area of light industrial estates - somewhere that doesn't impinge on people's daytime way of life as well."

Domestic violence

Cari Mitchell of the English Collective of Prostitutes, told BBC News: "We are very much against forcing women to work in specified areas.

"Ms Gilroy is proposing to put property developers above those of the women who have worked there for generations.

"She could spend her time better considering how to alleviate the causes of prostitution such as domestic violence and poverty."

BBC News

A Serbian tie maker is planning to launch a new range of penis cravats for the man who has everything.

Designer Neven Vrgoc said: "The ties are of a special shape and do not go around the neck of the man, but around his member.

"I hope male customers will buy them to create a good impression on a first date, or women might present them to men when they have been totally satisfied.

"There will also be a special certificate of excellence that will go with the tie and on which the woman will be able to fill out details of the individual's performance."

Vrgoc, who claims Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Clinton and Jacques Chirac are among his clients, said he was preparing a promotional campaign for his penis ties, Glas Javnosti reported.

"I hope to have a full range in the shops by Christmas," he said.

Ananova.com

The number of cases of chlamydia in Scotland has risen sharply, according to the latest official statistics.

Sexual health clinics diagnosed more than 4,800 cases in 2002 compared to 3,500 the year before, a rise of 39%.

Most of those diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection were in their 20s or early 30s, but one in seven was in their teens.

The figures on infection reported at clinics were compiled by NHS Scotland's Information Services.

The report found that the increase in chlamydia was one of the main trends.

'Genuine increase'

It said: "It has been suggested that some of this is related to increased awareness and to wider application of laboratory tests.

"There is also thought to be a genuine increase in the level of infection, mainly in the 15-24 age group."

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said much of the increase could be explained by better screening and detection.

"We are actively trying to encourage more people to come for checks," she said.

"The increase means we are succeeding in identifying people who are carrying these diseases and giving them the appropriate treatment."

Scotland's chief medical officer Dr Mac Armstrong said the figures for young people were a "disappointment but not a surprise". He highlighted a lack of awareness among teenagers of the risk of sexually-transmitted infection.

"Scottish teenagers have just about the lowest condom use of any comparable group of teenagers worldwide," said Dr Armstrong.

"There is clearly a lack of awareness and lack of availability of condoms among teenagers in Scotland and we need to tackle this."

He warned: "We have to get that simple message across to them: practise safe sex, use a condom."

The number of gonorrhoea cases dropped dramatically between 1985 and 1994, but an increase was found in recent years, especially in men.

The main groups of sexually transmitted infections were genital warts, chlamydia, non-specific genital infections and genital herpes simplex.

The average age of people attending clinics was 26, the same as the previous two years.

BBC News

A £300m campaign to tackle the growing sexual health crisis in the UK is being launched. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are continuing to grow, with over 700,000 new cases last year in the UK.

Clinics will receive £130m for modernisation while £50m will go on an advertising campaign for under 25s - the largest of its kind for 20 years.

The announcement was made as new data showed that 27% of people with HIV in the UK were unaware they had the virus.

Ad campaign

The advertising campaign will be the most high-profile of its kind since the HIV and Aids awareness campaign in the 1980s, which featured TV commercials showing tombstones engraved with the words "Don't die of ignorance".

Despite greater awareness of the major STIs, chlamydia rose by 9% last year to 89,818, genital warts went up by 2% to 70,883 and syphilis increased by 28% with 1,575 cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Most of the cases are occurring in people aged 16-24.

THE MAJOR STIs

• HIV
• Chlamydia
• Gonorrhoea
• Syphilis
• Genital warts
• Genital herpes

Women may think men are football obsessed and emotionally bereft, but Britain's battalion of bachelors are in such demand overseas that a dating agency has opened its doors in the UK to help professional Japanese women find true love. According to Destina Japan, professional women in Japan are increasingly looking overseas for romance because they feel Japanese men do not understand their need to work.

The agency, which opened its office two weeks ago, says well-educated Japanese women, typically in their 30s, with well-paid jobs as doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs, are willing to spend thousands of pounds travelling to meet men in the UK.

One reason for this global quest for love is that 35% of Japanese women in their 30s are single. The agency hopes to match them with some of the 4.5 million single men in England and Wales aged 20 to 40.

Hiroko Ozawa, founder of Destina Japan, said: "Japanese women like the fact that British men have a modern attitude to family life as well as a respect for the traditional aspects of the Japanese culture."

Patrick Barkham

The Guardian

Scientists could be on the trail of a reversible male contraceptive that works through the immune system.

They report that they injected nine male macaque monkeys with Eppin, a protein from the testes. Seven became infertile, and of these five became fertile again when the treatment stopped.

Researchers have been experimenting for years to find reliable male hormonal contraceptives. Some are in clinical trials. But so far the only reliable male choice has been the condom, or vasectomy.

Researchers have considered immunising women to prevent conception. But the experiment by scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, reported in Science today, is, they say, the first successful trial based on the male immune system.

The experiment appeared not to have triggered any other problems with the animals' immune systems.

"This study demonstrates that effective and reversible male contraception in primates is an attainable goal," the team reports.

Tim Radford

The Guardian