Women do decade dieting to become 'size zero'

{image-diet in viyteggies_26052008.jpg news.oneindia.in}London, May 26: Women working to realise their dream of a slim, toned and petite figure spend nearly ten years of their life dieting, according to a survey. An average woman goes on two diets every year, with each one lasting an average of five weeks. That adds up to 104 diets between the ages of 18 and 70, lasting the equivalent of ten years.

However, a quarter of all women lose nothing at all. Moreover, the fact that the average woman embarks on at least two diets every year suggests any weight they do lose does not stay off, the survey stated. One in ten women go even further, spending 25 years or more dieting. The poll of 4,000 women by LIPO bind, a firm which makes natural weight-loss supplements,found one third women started their first diet at the age of 16 or under. A significant 39 per cent said said they tried to lose weight because they were embarrassed about their looks.

According to the poll, the average woman aspires to be a size 0, however a quarter believe being a size eight or under as ideal. The survey also showed that more than 41 per cent of women admitted they feel like they are constantly on a diet or watching what they eat, 44 per cent said no matter what they do, they never seem to lose weight, and 59 per cent did not think they will ever achieve the shape they want.

''This highlights just how much women think about their weight and the pressure associated with keeping in shape,'' the Daily Mail quoted Dr Glenn Wilson, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College, London, as saying. However, it's not just our own weight we are worrying about. A total of 32 per cent of women are concerned that they will be responsible for making their own children fat or even obese.

UNI