Meet Mr and Mrs A: National Slimming Survey 2011 gives new insight into emotional burden of being overweight

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.

For Mrs A faces a constant daily battle with her emotions, as failed diets and a desperate desire to lose weight cause a crisis of confidence, turning a string of everyday situations into sources of embarrassment, humiliation and dread. The results make extra shocking reading as two thirds of women in the UK are overweight or obese, meaning they fall into the same category as Mrs A.

The profiles of Mrs A and her partner Mr A (see overleaf) have been created by Slimming World using the first data from the new ‘National Slimming Survey 2011’. In the survey 1,467 people with an overweight Body Mass Index (BMI) were asked how various situations made them feel, such seeing themselves in the mirror, looking at recent holiday photos, trying on clothes in a shop, getting ready for a night out and seeing old friends.

For women ‘fat’ was the top answer for all five situations, with very negative words like ‘embarrassed’, ‘horrified’ and ‘ashamed’ far outweighing positive responses like ‘happy’, ‘excited’ and ‘attractive’ in every circumstance. While men reported more positive responses than women – for example they felt ‘happy’ and ‘pleased’ when meeting old friends – ‘fat’ was still the most common feeling in two out of five situations, and in the top three in all but one circumstance.

In contrast, the 790 healthy weight people questioned in the survey reported positive answers in every situation, describing feeling ‘happy’ and ‘pleased’ in each of the five circumstances.

Below are profiles of the average overweight man and woman in the UK. With two thirds of people in the country overweight or obese, the profiles below describe the majority of people.

Meet Mrs A:

• She’s aged 45-54 and has been married for 20 years
• She weighs 13st 3lbs and is a dress size 18
• Her BMI is 31.58kg/m² putting her at significant risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke
• She’s been on a diet 3-5 times without success
• She’d like to lose 3st 2lbs and be a dress size 12
• She thinks this will be very difficult if not impossible
• Chocolate is her top diet downfall
• She says her emotions affect her eating and she feels guilty when she eats something unhealthy
• She is ‘always’ unhappy with her weight
• She ‘usually’ feels fat
• Seeing herself in the mirror, looking at recent holiday photos, trying on clothes in a shop and getting ready for a night out all make her feel ‘fat, embarrassed, ashamed and down’
• Seeing old friends creates mixed emotions, making her feel ‘fat’ and ‘embarrassed’, but also ‘happy and pleased’
• She has had negative comments about her weight from her family, friends and associates. Her mum, partner and GP are most likely to have commented negatively about her size

Meet Mr A:

• He’s aged 45-54 and has been married 20 years
• He weighs 15 stone and has a 38 inch waist
• He has a BMI of 30.18kg/m², placing him at increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.
• He has never been on a diet
• He’d like to lose 2st 7lbs and be a waist size 34
• He thinks this would be ‘quite difficult’
• Alcohol is his top diet downfall
• He feels guilty when he eats something unhealthy
• He is ‘sometimes’ unhappy with his weight
• He ‘sometimes’ feels fat
• Seeing himself in the mirror makes him feel ‘fat, embarrassed and down’
• Other situations such as looking at recent holiday photos, trying on clothes in a shop and getting ready for a night out create mixed emotions, making him feel ‘fat and embarrassed’, but also ‘happy and pleased’
• He has had negative comments from his family, friends and associates about his weight, with his partner the one most likely to comment negatively about his weight

Key statistics
Below is a table showing the top emotion felt by healthy weight people and overweight people in a variety of situations: choosing from happy, down, pleased, attractive, excited, fat, slim, proud, horrified, sexy, ashamed, and embarrassed.
There are also statistics for overweight men and women on their top diet downfall, number of times on a diet, period when they first noticed their weight problem and who they are most likely to have received criticism about their weight from.
N.B Detailed breakdowns of the below statistics are attached to this email.

Women

Men

Caryl Richards, Slimming World’s Managing Director, says: “These statistics verify something we understand very well at Slimming World – that overweight people carry a double burden. There is excess weight, but there is a far heavier burden to be lifted – that of guilt, self-criticism and poor self-esteem.

“We know that when people feel bad they find it difficult to stick with healthy lifestyle changes, and this can cause feelings of failure, leading to a downward spiral until their weight is out of control and life is very lonely. These destructive, negative feelings are often far more difficult to deal with than the physical difficulties of carrying extra weight.

“Two out of three people in the UK are overweight or obese, meaning that the majority of the population is now trapped in this emotional cycle of daily humiliation, embarrassment and dread. Understanding how people who struggle with their weight feel, and understanding - really understanding - the challenges they face, is the most important thing when it comes to helping them to develop a healthier lifestyle.

"Feelings of self confidence and self worth are closely connected with weight for both genders, and the results show that for women the ties are even stronger.

“The main motivators for men to start a weight loss campaign tend to be their health and concerns about their future wellbeing. They often want to be fit and active so they can play with their children and grandchildren, keep up with sports and other practical reasons like that. Men tend to be more pragmatic about weight loss in general and while their weight does affect their confidence, they’re not as concerned with body image as women and they don’t care as much about what other people think of their size and weight. As the majority of men have never been 'on a diet' they also don’t carry the emotional baggage associated with previous failed attempts.

“Women on the other hand, while more aware of health related issues than they used to be, are principally motivated to lose weight because of how unhappy they feel with their size, shape and body image. They worry much more than men about what people think and they hate how they look and feel. Buying clothes and getting dressed to go out becomes a major anxiety, with the mirror a constant reminder of how unhappy they are with their bodies. They’ll stay in and decline social events to avoid the issue, they lose self confidence quickly and their sense of self worth is seriously affected by how they feel about their weight. It’s something that’s always on their mind and which affects much of their daily life. The more times a woman (anyone) tries and fails to lose weight the more of a failure she feels - her body a constant reminder of her failure.

“That’s why our program is about so much more than healthy eating. It’s about tapping into the power of a group to positively influence individuals to make healthy new choices and lifestyle changes that are often too difficult to make on your own. At Slimming World we work with members to make sure they know if they've tried and not succeeded before - it's not they who have failed, it's the support system that's failed them. Helping people to see past failures in perspective, helping them learn to be kind and compassionate to themselves is key. Over the last 40 years we’ve developed a highly sophisticated support system that boosts people's confidence and self esteem, and gives them the power to take control of their life and their choices and to make changes that they can keep up in the long term.

“Making small changes and losing even small amounts of weight can significantly lift an overweight person’s self esteem and sense of self worth. With every small shift comes newfound confidence and a lighter spirit; they feel less down and more lighthearted; they feel more capable and more respected by family, friends and colleagues. When they’re happy with their bodies they’re happy in themselves. Everything feels more achievable than before.”

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The National Slimming Survey 2011 was conducted by Slimming World and YouGov, and polled a nationally representative sample of 2,384 people about their weight and measurements, eating habits, activity levels, relationships, family, attitudes and behaviours. The results provide a comprehensive picture of obesity in the UK.

Notes to Editors

• Slimming World is the largest and most advanced slimming organisation in the UK. Margaret Miles-Bramwell (OBE, FRSA) founded the company in 1969 and there are now more than 6,700 groups held weekly nationwide via a network of 2,700 Slimming World trained Consultants.
• 350,000 members attend Slimming World every week and achieve outstanding success.
• Members lose 17,857 stones every week: 2,551 stones every day, over 106 stones every hour, that’s 1stone 10 lbs lost every minute of every day with Slimming World.
• Slimming World pioneered referral schemes in the UK and actively supports the building of partnerships with the NHS and local authorities to develop effective strategies to manage overweight and obesity in the community. Slimming World works with university researchers and specialists in an active research programme to further knowledge of the causes and treatment of obesity.
• Slimming World’s healthy eating plan, Food Optimising, and the principles behind Slimming World’s philosophy are based on a deep understanding of the challenges faced by overweight people. Slimming World integrates practical, up-to-date dietary advice with a highly developed support system.
• Slimming World Consultants receive specific training in dietary aspects and the role of physical activity in weight control. The highly developed training focuses on facilitating behaviour change in a group environment, acknowledged by experts as being the most effective way to support long-term weight management.
• In 2009 Slimming World celebrated its 40th Anniversary and four decades of helping people to lose weight without deprivation, guilt or hunger.