By Ben Spencer Medical Correspondent For The Daily Mail
Published: 23:30 GMT, 4 March 2019 | Updated: 01:54 GMT, 5 March 2019
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Sporty women tend to have more romantic partners over the course of their lifetime, researchers have found.
A major study into the sexuality of 7,000 people found that keeping fit and exercising regularly is one of the biggest predictors as to how many sexual partners a woman will have during her life.
For men, income has a bigger impact.
In depth: The data for the study included responses to the Sexual Relationships and Activities Questionnaire, which 7079 people completed in 2012-13
The research, published in the BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, found that on average men sleep with more different people over their lifetime than women do.
The research - done as part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing - found that 20 per cent of men have at least 10 sexual partners during their lives, compared with 8.5 per cent of women.
About 40 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women have at least five sexual partners.
The researchers said this is likely to be because of men's higher testosterone levels and societal 'double standards' towards women's sexual behaviour.
Among women, exercise is one of the biggest links to having multiple partners, the researchers found.
Women who vigorously exercise at least once a week are 73 per cent more likely than people who are inactive to have at least 10 sexual partners.
Researcher Dr Lee Smith, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said doing sport introduces women to lots of people.
'Increased social interaction provides a setting and opportunity to engage in a greater number of sexual partners,' he said.
Exercising regularly also cuts depression and boosts confidence.
'We know that participation in physical activity increases self-esteem and it is possible that self-esteem is linked to increased confidence in engaging in sexual activity with new partners,' he said.
The research team also found that bisexual women were nearly six times more likely than heterosexual women to have 10 sexual partners.
Among men, the very rich
