Women spend big to get slim

Young Australian women are spending more than $400 million a year trying to lose weight, according to Deakin University research.

Survey findings, recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia, were drawn from 445 women aged 18 to 32 who were quizzed about their spending habits in regard to nine weight control methods over the previous year.

Some spent up to $3000 a year managing their weight. Gym memberships were the most popular and one of the most expensive methods, but more was being spent on commercial weight loss programs.

The proportion of overweight or obese women studied was 31 per cent (body mass index over 25kg/m2). The average spend per year for those who had used a weight loss method in the past 12 months (61 per cent) was $441.

Dr Kylie Ball, lead author of the study, said the findings equated to $414 million per year spent on weight loss by women of this age group nationally.

"Young women are investing considerable amounts of money to manage their weight," Dr Ball said.

"Increasing rates of obesity suggest that young women's efforts to manage their weight are ineffective."

Dr Ball said the annual spend would be greatly reduced if GPs encouraged young women to use safe, low-cost weight loss strategies such as walking and healthy eating.

"The low levels of satisfaction with their body and poor self-esteem among young women, in conjunction with their heightened risk of weight gain, make them prime targets for the slimming industry."

The weight loss methods surveyed included: commercial weight loss, gym, fitness equipment, health professional, personal trainer, community health centre, medication, slimming products and meal replacements.