FOOTBALL fans on a men-only weight loss programme have spoken of the obstacles they face from the older women in their lives who insist on serving up man-sized portions.

The acclaimed scheme has seen fans of 21 Scottish clubs, including the Old Firm and Hearts and Hibs sign up to dieting programmes.

Researchers asked participants if they felt supported or undermined in their efforts to slim by their partners, mothers and mothers-in-law.

The majority of those on the Football Fans in Training (FFIT) initiative said wives or girlfriends had aided their weight loss by helping them make small changes in their food and eating habits, with some partners lending morale support by dieting as well.

Some men said their wives would only snack on chocolate and treats when they were not there, to help them avoid temptation.

Others said their partners tended to undermine their efforts by "not keeping temptation far enough out of their way or by questioning the changes they had made".

And a small number of the men questioned for the study said they faced resistance from mothers and mothers-in-law because of "deeply ingrained cultural values" which link caring for their family with feeding them - or overfeeding them.

According to the study, this meant the women continued to serve what they considered "man-sized" portions and favourite treats, such as puddings, which the men found hard to refuse.

Professor Kate Hunt, associate director of the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at Glasgow University, said the tendency could be linked to previous generations when men's jobs were often more physically demanding than modern deskbound roles. Ms Hunt said: "I think traditionally in our culture, we also use food for celebrating or as a way of giving people treats and showing people how much we care, whether it's with a special birthday cake or making their favourite chocolate cake at a weekend.

"So I think it is quite ingrained in our culture that one way of showing we care for people is to cook special food for them.

"I think it's also quite deeply ingrained in some of our culture that men should eat man-sized portions that are much bigger than the platefuls that women and children are eating.

"Some men talked about ways in which their own fathers ate when they were doing manual jobs and using an awful lot of energy during the day, and ­culturally these are the kinds of patterns that have been passed on."

The FFIT programme was devised as a way to encourage men, who are less likely to sign up to slimming clubs, to take part in a group weight-loss programme which includes exercise sessions at their club's football stadium as well as lessons on healthy eating.

It was launched in 2011 and now operates out of 21 football clubs in Scotland, including Rangers, Celtic and the two big Edinburgh clubs.

A study published in the medical journal the Lancet in January this year showed men who took part in the project lost an average of just over 11 lbs a year after they had started. Feedback from men has also been overwhelmingly positive.

Ms Hunt said: "The beauty of FFIT is that it attracted men from the football clubs because dieting and weight-loss programmes had come to be seen so much as an issue for women.

"But there are just as many men in Scotland who could benefit from good weight management programmes - around three-quarters of men in Scotland are overweight or obese, officially.

"It's about making small changes to what you eat and how much you choose to eat and the amount of physical activity you do, small changes that you can build into your life and keep in your life. It's not a crash diet."

Ms Hunt said the team at Glasgow University was now working on other follow-up studies, including assessing how successful FFIT programmes directed at women are compared to the male version.

They are working with clubs in Europe and England to devise a new version of FFIT called Eurofit which is geared at helping people increase their amount of physical activity.