PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Many women put more effort into dieting than into their relationships and think about food more than sex, new research reveals.

The study, carried out by weight loss company Atkins, also found one in 10 women would feel guiltier straying from their diet than being unfaithful to their partner.

Atkins surveyed 1,290 female dieters across the UK about their attitudes to dieting and how it affected their relationships.

One in four women admitted they thought dieting was more important than their relationship and said they put more effort into their weight loss attempts than into their relationship with their partner.

More than a third of respondents (37.5%) said they thought about food and dieting more than they thought about their partner and more than half (54%) confessed they thought about food more than sex.

The most common reason for starting a diet was trying to attain a perfect beach body while one in seven women surveyed said they were motivated by cruel comments about their weight.

It is estimated that three quarters of the UK adult female population have been on a diet at least once in their lifetime.

Atkins chief nutritionist Linda O'Byrne said dieting should become part of a person's everyday lifestyle and not something people are constantly thinking about.