Slimming World and the Royal College of Midwives have joined forces in a unique partnership to support pregnant women and breastfeeding mums in managing their weight.

After taking on cancer, 20-year-old Emma Parker pledged to tackle her weight too and lost more than 8st - nearly half her body weight - in seven months.

A quarter of the UK population (24%) has an obese Body Mass Index (BMI)*, yet a new survey shows that only six per cent of us believe that our weight problem is severe enough to be classified as ‘obese’.

A mum who weighed nearly 30st and was warned by her doctor that she could be dead within two years has lost two-thirds of her body weight to be named Slimming World’s Woman of the Year 2011.

Commercial weight management organisations have welcomed the results of a study published tomorrow in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that compared weight losses achieved through NHS referral to Slimming World, Weight Watchers and Rosemary Conley with those achieved through primary care led programmes.

Slimming World Magazine, the UK’s most popular diet and lifestyle title, has launched a new app enabling readers to download the magazine to read on their phone or tablet.

With hobbies including rock-climbing, kick-boxing and tap-dancing, it’s no wonder Lisa Hopton’s sons have nick-named her ‘super-mum’. Now their stunning super-mum has won a national slimming title after beating yo-yo dieting for good by losing 5½st and keeping it off for 10 years.

A poll of around 1,000 slimmers reveals that the majority would support a junk food tax – if the money raised was used to subsidise the cost of healthy foods, like fruit and vegetables, to make them more affordable.

Slimming World magazine is celebrating yet another healthy growth in its circulation after today’s ABC figures showed a 15.5% year on year increase – its biggest ever rise and the fourth increase in as many years.

A teenager who was nicknamed ‘Tubs’ and ‘Chunk’ for years has undergone a stunning transformation to win a national slimming title.

A mum who had to quit her job as a hairdresser because her weight meant she struggled to stand on her feet all day has won a national slimming title after losing 7st and keeping it off for 10 years.

Weight worries are casting a shadow over our summer holidays, leaving many of us self-conscious and spoiling our fun in the sun, a new survey has found.

After years of being known as ‘Fat Neil’ to his friends, it was a painful comment made to his young daughter that motivated 26½st Neil Richardson to begin a transformation that saw him lose nearly half his body weight.

A new report into the serious health risks of obsessive calorie counting has been welcomed by the UK’s leading slimming club for highlighting the dangers of modern faddy diets.

Slimming World’s free introductory app ‘A taste of Slimming World’ is now available for the Android market as well as the iPhone.

A father-of-four who’s been crowned a champion slimmer after losing nearly 14st is urging men not to be embarrassed to join a slimming club following research which found just one in 10 men would be willing to attend a weight-loss group.

If you’ve ever complained that you’re too busy to lose weight, you’re not alone. Research by the UK’s favourite slimming club Slimming World shows that more than half of people believe lack of time is the main reason for Britain’s obesity crisis. And a quarter of those questioned say they’d like to eat a healthier diet but are too busy to make eating well a priority.

The largest ever UK audit of a partnership between the NHS and a commercial weight management company has demonstrated the effectiveness of slimming clubs in tackling obesity with a programme of long term behaviour change on a national scale. The average person who completed a 12 week course at Slimming World lost a ‘clinically significant’ 5.5 per cent of their body weight. This increased to 8.5 per cent body weight for those who attended a group for six months. Previous research by Slimming World has shown that more than half of participants in referral schemes go on to fund themselves after the initial 12 weeks.

Women are being warned about the dangers of yo-yo diets after a UK-wide survey revealed that more than one in five women have been on at least five diets and regained weight and many have been on at least 20 diets without keeping the pounds off.

At 35½st Zelda Haxby worried her weight would cut her life short and leave her two sons motherless. Now she’s lost more than half her body weight to win the title of Slimming World’s Greatest Loser 2011.

Despite her increasing ill health, the York mum says it was fears for her children’s future rather than her own that spurred her into action after a short spell in hospital. She says: “I hated being away from my two boys and I realised that if I didn’t lose some weight I might leave them without their mother forever.

Overweight and unhappy, Neil Bowers and wife Caroline Varney-Bowers were desperate to lose weight and become the happy, healthy parents they knew their two little boys deserved.

And the couple from Norwich have done just that after losing more than the combined weight of their sons Oscar, seven, and Elliot, two – more than 9st – and being named Slimming World’s Couple of the Year 2011.

The nominations included ultra-slim stars Angelina Jolie, Kate Moss and Twiggy but a national poll to find the all-time ‘Best Celebrity Body’ found that when it comes to body shape, curvy takes the best award, as queen of the hourglass Kelly Brook scooped the top prize, followed by shapely Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren.

Giving children food as a reward can lead to lifelong problems with food, weight and self esteem, survey finds.

Staff at Slimming World Magazine were popping the champagne corks today with the news that the publication’s circulation is up 9.8% year on year – its biggest ever increase.

Meet Mrs A. She’s the average overweight woman. She’s aged between 45 and 54, a dress size 18, sees chocolate as her number one diet downfall, and she wants to lose 3st. All very normal so far? But a new profile created by Slimming World and YouGov, released today, reveals for the first time the shocking emotional and psychological impact of our increasing obesity levels.

A woman who was targeted by bullies from the age of 10 for being overweight is hoping to pursue her dreams of becoming a model after losing 8st.

Results of a campaign to tackle obesity in communities across the UK put the North West at the top of the weight loss league.

A newly-crowned slimmer of the year who lost 15st in 18 months says she’s proud that she did it all herself without having a gastric band or bypass..