Australian women alarmingly spend on average nearly 15 years of their lives dieting, with over a third experiencing negative emotions such as depression, anxiety, stress, and sadness in their pursuit of shedding weight, new research has revealed.

This disheartening reality could be affecting the 160,000 women living in the Illawarra community. Health care professionals want to encourage women in the area to seek assistance on their weight loss journey and understand they don’t have to do it alone.

The recently released Juniper ‘True cost of diet culture’ report unearths the toll of failing diet culture, with 35 per cent of women claiming to have been unsuccessful in their last attempt to lose weight, revealing not only the enormous time investment, but the mental toll weight loss attempts have on women and the plethora of weight loss programs and regimes out there that simply are not designed for successful results. Lastly, the lack of regional access to healthcare professionals that Australian women face to achieve a healthy body weight.

Endocrinologist, Dr Ramy Bishay says, “Far too often obesity is considered a lifestyle condition, but this report demonstrates that the ‘eat less, move more’ mantra is failing women. We simply can’t expect women to undue thousands of years of adaptation to starvation, which has dominated human history, in a matter of weeks or months by ‘eating less and moving more’. So much time and headspace are taken up by dieting and perceived quick fixes, when obesity is a medical condition that requires professional support and medical intervention.” 

With 19 per cent of women spending between three and eight hours each week thinking about weight loss, which can be the equivalent of up to an eight-hour working day, it’s not surprising that the research found that the mental burden of dieting is taking a heavy toll on women, who say they experience negative emotions such as feelings of depression, anxiety, stress, feeling overwhelmed, powerless, or sadness.

The Juniper Weight of the Nation report reveals that restricting eating, or even thinking about dieting is eating into women’s time

● 60 per cent of women are either dieting or restricting their eating habits to lose weight at some time each year

● 919,000 Australian women revealed they are permanently on a diet or practicing restrictive eating to lose weight

The report suggests that expert support is key to keeping kilos off. Women who consulted with an expert were more successful in their last attempt at weight loss compared to those women who did not (72 per cent compared to 54 per cent).

There also seems to be a geographical barrier to accessing health care professionals’ weight loss advice. One in five of those in regional areas who didn’t consult a health professional during their last attempt at dieting, cited that they either can’t get an appointment or don’t have a regular GP or nearby health professional to talk to about weight loss. Regional women are more likely than their city counterparts to experience negative emotions when it comes to thinking about or engaging in activities with the purpose of losing weight (38 per cent vs 33 per cent).

Interestingly there seem to be generational behaviours around dieting. Gen Z (47 per cent) are most likely to experience negative emotions when they think about or engage in activities with the purpose of helping them to lose weight, followed by Baby Boomers (43 per cent), Gen X (34 per cent and Millennials (only 27 per cent).

If the typical diet mantra ‘of eat less, move more’ has not helped women to successfully lose weight Dr Bishay offers this advice, “For the many women who have tried everything and remain overweight or obese, a combination of prescription medication and holistic support services can help them ‘kick start’ metabolic function and help lose the weight for good.”

The Juniper Weight Reset Program is delivered via telehealth consultations with a team of specialist doctors and allied health professionals. The program takes a holistic approach to weight loss, combining diet and health coaching with prescription medications. Clinically proven medication is coupled with professional nutrition, exercise, and community online support.

The Program has helped more than 130,000 Australian women on their weight loss journeys. Patients have lost over 60 per cent more body weight on average than participants in a comparable clinical trial, with personalised coaching being the key distinction contributing to their success.