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Half of women recognise weight problem in photos

Half of women only realise they have a weight problem when they see an unflattering photo, a survey has found.

Researchers at EatWater.co.uk asked 1,000 female dieters why they had decided to lose weight.

One in every two respondents said they had seen an unflattering picture of themselves that had spurred them into action.

Forty-two per cent of women said an old photo of them in slimmer days had made them realise how much weight they had put on since.

And 17 per cent said they had decided to slim down ahead of their wedding.

A spokesman for the company said: ‘It is all too easy to become complacent with our body shape and size and think we are doing okay, when really we’re carrying round a few extra pounds.

‘A photograph can be like a bolt from the blue – often people are absolutely flabbergasted that they could have let things get so bad.’

NHS figures suggest that 26 per cent of women in England were obese in 2010, while a further 32 per cent were overweight.