Feminists have hit back at controversial study which seems to suggest women are becoming fatter because they are not doing enough housework.
Labour-saving devices such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners may have liberated women from the drudgery of houswork.
But this freedom comes at a price for women say researchers who claim it has added inches to their waistlines.
Alys Mumford, of Scottish feminist organisation Engender, said: “The study might have a serious point about how changes in our lifestyle do mean we are becoming more obese - but (these) sensationalist headlines do more harm than good.
"They distract from working out better ways to live healthy lives in the modern age and instead rely on stereotypes that come straight from the 1950s."
A wide-ranging comparison of British lives today with those of 30 years ago revealed that women are spending more time at work and devoting less time to housework.
And researchers say the drop in house work may have contributed to the obesity epidemic.
At the start of the 1980s, the average 5ft 3in British woman weighed 10 stone (63.5kg), but by 2008 that had grown to 11st 2lb (70.6kg).
And advances in technology mean the housework women do is likely to be lighter than in the past.
For instance, while mopping floors burns off 200 calories an hour – roughly a bar of chocolate – sitting in front of a computer uses up as few as 70 calories.
Men develop beer bellies for different reasons in the UK as they are doing slightly more around the house in the past, the European Economic Association’s annual conference heard.
Feminist organisations have hit back at the study and the way it has been reported, claiming it undermined the serious point it was trying to make by playing on 1950s stereotypes.
Britain has the biggest obesity problem in western Europe, with one in four adults obese - so heavy that their health is at risk.
Obesity rates have more than trebled in the last 30 years and it is feared that more than half the population could be obese by 2050.
To work out what is driving the change, researchers from Manchester University and Royal Holloway, University of London, studied information on calorie counts and exercise levels.
To their surprise, they found that although we eat out more, snack more and spend more on food, we eat around 20 per cent fewer calories than we did 30 years ago.
Researcher Melanie Luhrmann said this is because we are filling our shopping baskets with fruit and vegetables and other healthier foods, rather than jams and other sugar-loaded treats.
But while 30 years ago we needed the extra calories to keep ourselves going through our hard lives, now even the smaller number of calories we eat may be too much.
Jobs have become more sedentary, people spend more time watching TV and little sport is played.
The study showed the average Britain spends just 11.5 minutes a day playing sport.
Finally, commutes are longer but less active meaning instead of walking to work we spend hours sitting on public transport.
Dr Luhrmann, a lecturer in economics, told the Daily Mail: "Basically, people are eating less but maybe they are not eating little enough, given that activity levels have declined a lot.
"Our research suggests that we are probably ill-advised to just look at food consumption as the main factor explaining obesity.
"Both physical activity and calories are important.
"Maybe we should spend more time on a more comprehensive approach where we don’t tell people to do more sport or eat less, but to work out how active they are and work on their diet accordingly."
The report has already sparked outrage on social media from women.
@Girl FM commented: "Researchers women are fat because they don't do enough housework Women say those researchers can p** off. "
@Shartner Handbag added: "Hardly a feminist but #Everydaysexism."