1 in 3 singles prefer food over sex

And of the 4,000 people who participated in the Love Bites: Dating and Dining survey, some were happy to sacrifice action between the sheets for salad.

32 percent of those people were women compared to 16 percent who were men.

But it is not just singles, in potentially unsatisfactory sexual relationships, who were willing to relinquish a year of loving.

The study interviewed extra 3,500 married individuals and despite being in a committed long-term relationship, 28 percent chose their perfect meal over fun in the bedroom.

While a majority of respondents willing to sacrifice sex did so for steak and chocolate, some were comfortable with depriving themselves for the sake of a caprese salad, sushi and fresh fruit.

The puzzling results raise in turn, questions about the quality of the sex that those who answered in favour of food, are having.

"People often say things like they'd pick money or sleep or food over sex. If you find yourself picking food over sex, you need to approach sex a bit more like food and vary your diet," a major newspaper quoted sex therapist and author Ian Kerner as telling a TV channel.

"I think this shows that people take sex for granted, or that they're not enjoying sex enough to really value it appropriately," he said.

He also pointed out that food might just be the reason that such people were not getting the most out of their sexual experience.

While chocolate and steak both have ingredients known to lift spirits, some food groups make us full and lethargic so what starts as a romantic candle-lit meal, ends in a night in front of the television.

In fact, a sense of adventure around food proved to be an important factor in attracting a mate as 66 percent of singles said that they were put off by fussy eaters and 35 percent admitted to being unimpressed by those who lacked food knowledge.

And 93 percent of the respondents were adamant that they would prefer someone bad in the kitchen to a partner with no skills in the bedroom.