The New Year, we’re told, should be a time for new starts and lifestyle overhauls, but it seems we’re a nation of quitters…

The new-year-new-body brigade generally gets the most stick for ditching the dumbbells before January is out, but research shows smokers aiming to quit are more than twice as bad at sticking to theirs by February.

Almost half (48.4%) of people who made the resolution to give up had broken it by the first week of February.

In contrast, just over one in five new gym goers (22.7%) admitted to no longer bothering by the same time. In fact, it takes until the middle of September for half to throw in their workout towels.

The study, by Betway Insider, shows when people are most likely to ditch their New Year’s Resolutions. It was conducted among 2,002 UK adults who made New Year’s resolutions in January 2018, with fieldwork conducted in November 2018.

Betway Insider conducted a survey to show when most smokers quit quitting in the new Year

People wanting to cut down on alcohol face the second biggest challenge. Despite the well meaning intentions of many to have a dry January, 37.6% picked up the bottle again after a month in 2018, and almost a quarter (23.1%) didn’t even make it two weeks.

Righteousness is no guarantee of perseverance either. Those who promise to donate more to charity over the year have the third highest quitting rate by February.

Exactly one in three who said they would donate more to charity had either given up on the thought or cancelled their payments after a month.

The first two weeks of January see one in 10 people give up on their New Year’s resolutions on average

In fact, the first two weeks of January see one in 10 people give up on their New Year’s resolutions on average, despite the intention being to pursue them over the whole year.

Despite their early chance of failure, though, almost half (49.2%) felt the need to make exactly the same resolution as the year before. Would-be charity donors admitted this most, at 61.1%.

The New Year’s resolutions with the fastest quitting rates by February are:

Quit smoking: 48.4% Drink less or give up alcohol: 37.6% Donate to charity: 33.3% Eat more healthily: 30.0% Improve sleep pattern: 26.5%

To find out when you’re most likely to ditch their New Year’s resolutions, check out the New Year, Same You? chart at blog.betway.com