Thousands spent in weight-loss craze

One woman pays out nearly $90,000 on treatments, and ends up heavier

One in four people aged 15 to 49 have spent money trying to lose weight, with some spending more than $20,000, a university survey has found.

Of 1,421 people questioned in a telephone survey, 336 or 23.6 per cent said they had tried to shed pounds. This comprised 248 women and 88 men.

Many may have been endangering their health by slimming, because they were already of normal weight or too thin, researchers said.

Survey head Li Pang-kwong, at Lingnan University, said the result was astonishing and 'clearly shows that Hong Kong people are too interested in losing weight'.

On average, each person spent $1,583.30 on weight-loss efforts.

Four people had spent more than $20,000 each time, which Professor Li described as an 'astronomical figure'. Almost 60 per cent of respondents said they believed losing weight would make them more beautiful and 45.5 per cent thought it would keep them fit.

But only 49.4 per cent were satisfied with the outcome and 45 per cent regained their weight later.

Of those who tried to lose weight, 61.4 per cent had no need to. They had a body mass index - a measure of body fat based on height and weight - lower than the ideal 23.

Clinician Chan Wing-bun, said losing weight without professional supervision 'can be dangerous'.

In the survey, 46.7 per cent had found their own weight-loss methods, 19.6 per cent had referred to advertisements and only 18.8 per cent asked for doctors' or nutritionists' advice.

At the announcement of the survey results, a woman said that after having a baby she had spent almost $60,000 on cold-bandage and hot-bandage slimming treatment and almost $30,000 on three slimming medicines, but had gained weight each time. As a diabetic, she should not have sought such drastic solutions, she said.

Professor Chan warned people to take slimming solutions and medicines cautiously.