When it comes to love - or, more accurately, attraction - size really does matter, writes Ben Leapman in The Sunday Telegraph.

Two economists from Britain's University of Essex analyzed the choices made by 3,600 people at 84 speed-dating events across the country. They found: For every inch taller a man is than his "rivals," the number of women who want to meet him again increases by 5 per cent. Being fat makes no difference to a man's success, but a woman who is clinically overweight is selected by 70 per cent fewer men.