Boob jobs are no longer the preserve of Wags and female models. More than 350 men have undergone breast reduction operations in Scottish NHS hospitals to improve their appearance.

Plastic surgery clinics have seen a significant rise in the number of men seeking removal of man-breasts, or “moobs”.

Similar to breast reductions for women, male patients need only show that they would suffer emotionally for the NHS to pick up the bill. The health service said it does not have figures for how many of the 357 breast reductions carried out on men since 2005 were paid for by the taxpayer.

Among those who had the procedure in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area were 21 boys under the age of 16. Taimur Shoaib, a plastic surgeon from Glasgow, said he currently performs one male breast reduction procedure per fortnight.

“It is by far the most common plastic surgery procedure for men now and this is partly due to men becoming more aware of weight issues,” said Shoaib.

Ken Stewart, a surgeon at the private Murrayfield Hospital in Edinburgh, said Scotland’s obesity problem is fuelling demand for this kind of surgery.

“We are about to be hit by a big wave. Scotland is one of the fattest nations in Europe now, and as people are starting to realise this, they are changing their lifestyle,” he said. “Sadly, this often does not happen until people hit middle age. When you lose a lot of weight in your 30s and 40s, you are left with excess skin. When you are young, the skin has a better ability to shrink back.”

However, critics said scarce NHS resources should not be expended on lifestyle procedures.

“I think, at a time when the NHS is overstretched, we should question whether plastic surgery like this should be a priority,” said Mark Wallace, campaign director of the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

Mary Scanlon, health spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that people do not reach the stage where losing weight makes surgery necessary.

“There is very little support for people with weight issues. When we get to the stage when all this weight needs to be lost and surgery is required, it just costs the NHS and the taxpayer more money.”

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