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Quarter of women have used diet pills

Posted: 19/01/2010 at 07:58pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness

For our daily dose of diet, health and fitness today, we’re going to feature some research we actually commissioned and sent to the British press today, which has already started to get coverage online (including here on NetDoctor!) and attracted interest from the national media.

I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to look at the number of people who resort to weight loss tablets in order to lose weight, and called an end to the nationwide study at the weekend, having received responses from nearly 1,400 people (well, 1,392 women, to be exact!).

The Cold Hard Facts

-    A quarter of women have used weight-loss tablets
-    7% of men have used weight-loss tablets
-    Two thirds of weight-loss tablet users, 67%, said they bought them online
-    Women aged 30 or over were most likely to resort to using fat loss aids
-    16-21 year olds were the least likely age group to use them, with 15% admitting to having taken them, whilst 26% of women aged 40-50 had.
-    More than two-thirds said they used them because they ‘didn’t have time to exercise’
-    31% said they used them because they felt it was their ‘last resort’
-    62% of people who had used fat loss aids said they’d lost weight using them, although…
-    Just 8% said they’d kept the weight off since

Perhaps most positively (if any of the figures can be taken as positive), 86% of women who have used fat loss tablets said they wouldn’t use them again due to the side effects, although 39% of those who hadn’t used the tablets said they wouldn’t rule out using them.

The side effects

Side effects noted by those who had used weight-loss tablets ranged from nausea and diarrhoea to dizziness and fainting. Here are the ten most common symptoms previous users admit to having experienced:

1.    Headaches – 92% admitted to having experienced
2.    Nausea – 85%
3.    Lack of concentration – 83%
4.    Dry mouth – 82%
5.    Dizziness – 78%
6.    Diarrhoea – 75%
7.    Vomiting – 69%
8.    Anxiety – 41%
9.    Fainting –17%
10.    Rectal bleeding – 12%

Reaction to the study

Fat burning pills have become a multi-million pound industry within the UK and America due to the obesity epidemic, but I truly believe that as well as the fact that turning to weight loss tablets unadvised and essentially blind is not only potentially dangerous, it also doesn’t address the individual’s association with diet and exercise.

In my mind, when an individual turns to fat burning tablets, they’re subjecting themselves to something they are unlikely to know anything about.

Fat-loss tablet companies, especially those faceless vendors found online, are no more responsible than your typical street-corner drug dealer in my opinion. They’re pushing these products that may or may not be what they claim to be, using false testimonials with unrealistic claims of weight loss and still, somehow, managing to sleep at night.

People looking to lose weight often convince themselves that they’ve tried everything to lose it, but there is, in my experience with clients, always something these people are overlooking, purposely or not.

Although it’s been said millions of times, healthy and lasting weight loss is only attainable through adhering to a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet inclusive of treats and regular exercise.

Fat-loss aids don’t address psychological issues people may have with food, and like any addiction, reversion is extremely likely to happen if the changes made aren’t more long-term. Quick fixes such as crash dieting and fat-loss tablets are akin to deprivation, and deprivation can only ever be a short-term answer.

I have a whole blog here talking about whether or not diet pills are the answer. Check it out, there’s some great information in it - it opens in a new tab.

Over to you

So, what do you think about the figures? What you expected? It nearly pains me to say it, but to be honest, I wasn’t that surprised to see the usage so high, especially amongst age groups who you would think would be a bit wiser.


Has the commercialisation of Alli diet pills within the UK made it 'OK' to take weight loss aids?

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