use strict;
my $str = '<p>I am <30 years old and weight <12st I am < 30 years old and weight < 12st I am <30 years old and weight < -12st I am < +30 years old and weight < 12st</p>';
my $regex = qr/<(\s*[+-]?[0-9])/mp;
my $subst = '<$1';
my $result = $str =~ s/$regex/$subst/rg;
print "The result of the substitution is' $result\n";
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html