It's a good time to lose weight or stop smoking. But as we improve ourselves, have we forgotten the meaning of Lent, asks Róisín Ingle

The season of Trócaire boxes and good intentions is officially upon us, but for many the most eagerly anticipated part of Lent is getting to work again on those failed New Year's resolutions. Cast your mind back. Wasn't this the year when you would definitely cut down on drinking, smoking or eating and start yoga, charity work or finally reading Ulysses from start to finish? Lent gives weak-willed adults a second chance at self-improvement. These days the real sacrifices - think of the mournful Lenten mantra of "I'm giving up sweets" - are left to the kids.

Lorraine (26) from Lucan in Co Dublin couldn't wait for Lent to begin. "I have been trying to lose half a stone for ages but just can't get motivated. So I am giving up bread and cheese, my two vices, for Lent and hopefully by Easter I'll have reached my goal," she says.

The spiritual side of the season is not lost on her completely, though. "It was always a big thing in my family, and I do think about the religious aspect. It is just that, these days, the things I am likely to give up tend to have a benefit to me. I gave up cigarettes during Lent last year and am still off them now."

She is not alone. According to recent research for Pharmacia & Upjohn, which makes Nicorette nicotine gum, Lent is the most popular time for Irish people to give up smoking. Its figures show that 49 per cent try to break the habit at this time, compared with just 12 per cent after the new year. Statistics also revealed that more than a third of smokers who decided to quit during Lent were successful.

"A lot of people find quitting during the new year difficult. There are too many distractions and they haven't really got Christmas out of their system," says Teresa Cawley, medical marketing manager for the nicotine-replacement products. "They seem better prepared during Lent and are helped by the many health-promotion campaigns that are run around this time."

But in our rush to exercise more, eat less and generally be more healthy, have we lost sight of the nourishment for the soul that the Christian churches preach is at the heart of the build-up to Easter? Father Pat Collins, who teaches spirituality and the psychology of religion at All Hallows College in Drumcondra, Dublin, agrees that we are living in an increasingly avaricious and individualistic society.

"Coping with the traffic is our new hair shirt," he jokes. But Father Collins maintains that trying to kick a nasty habit during Lent is in keeping with this time of "reassessment and turning away from that which stops one becoming closer to God".

He says: "If people are doing things that are harmful to their health, they will try to start a diet or give up the fags as part of Lent . . . I think that is fine. Lent has to be seen in holistic terms, and this is self-improvement from a human point of view, but there can also be a spiritual element. It is like killing two birds with one stone, and many people try to do that." Father Collins gave up smoking at the beginning of Lent many years ago and has never been tempted since.

He believes there is a healthier attitude to Lent during modern times. "People don't get involved out of fear now, they do it from their own convictions. If some are eating less food, it should be in solidarity with those who have less than us and not just a selfish exercise. Otherwise we are walking the walk but not talking the talk."

Fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday is less widely observed than ever before, with fast-food outlets enjoying healthy sales of burgers on these days. According to a spokeswoman for McDonald's, 10 years ago sales of Big Macs and Quarter Pounders would have slumped dramatically as queues for fish-and-chip shops snaked around corners. "These days we wouldn't notice much of a difference," she says.

Danny O'Toole, manager of Clyne Bros butchers in Ringsend, Dublin, says there are still some areas where steaks and sausages do not sell as well on traditional fasting days.

"Generally, where there is a more elderly population, people would be hanging on to the fasting tradition of no meat, one main meal and two smaller meals," he says. "We have two other shops, one in Terenure and the other in Glasthule. In those younger areas you wouldn't notice much difference. Twenty years ago, in contrast, your sales of meat would have dropped considerably across the board."

O'Toole will have his usual Irish breakfast and meaty dinner on both days. "I gave up giving up years ago," he says.

Some staples of Lent, such as the Trócaire box, are going from strength to strength, with Bertie Ahern, the Taoiseach, going so far to describe it as a minor national institution. Now in its 30th year, this central alms-giving element of Lent has raised €110 million for people in Third World countries.

Caroline Lynch of Trócaire says children are still enthusiastic about the box and adults believe it is the perfect way to teach their offspring about values and charity - although one child who put her daddy's credit card in the box, "so that the poor people could buy their own things", may have been taking the alms-giving concept a little too far.

Archdeacon Gordon Linney, of St Paul's Church of Ireland parish in Glenageary, Co Dublin, is urging people to "take up rather than give up" in the weeks leading up to Easter.

"In recent years, Lent seems to have centred around people giving up bits and pieces of things which are rather meaningless. This emphasis on depriving oneself is a dangerous concept when Lent is supposed to be about cherishing ourselves and improving our self-esteem and the spiritual quality of our lives," he says. "Rather than simply giving up, it is more pertinent to take up more positive things - to take time out from the lunatic life we all lead, for example."

Archdeacon Linney is not giving up anything for Lent but instead has committed himself to go away for at least a week of writing and reflection.

He will run talks in his church to increase the understanding of the meaning of Lent and, with his congregation, will help raise money for a hospital in Uganda.

"Lent is about much more than depriving the body of sugar."