Watchdog slams “Skinny Water” claims

London: UK health watchdogs have criticised the claims for a bottle of water which claims to help weightloss.

Skinny Water, a flavoured spring water, sold in Tesco, WH Smith and Superdrug, contains a cocktail of nutrients which the manufacturer claims to suppress hunger and fight fat.

Makers Bio Synergy admit their claims are not based on clinical studies and the name is on a par with jeans called “skinny jeans” and coffee called “skinny latte.”

UK Food Standards Agency say that the claims for the drink are groundless and that steps are being the results of proven medical trials.

iSkinny Water, which costs 99p, contains hunger-suppressing nutrients such as L-Carnitine and Chromium, which the labelling says reduces sugar cravings and improves the body’s ability to burn fat. The eye-catching label says the drink is a “slimming aid”, words printed suggestively under a measuring tape.

It states Skinny Water “has been enhanced with a unique combination of ingredients to help you lose weight… suppress appetite, block carbohydrates from converting into fat and increase fat burning”.

British women say no to extreme diets, says Laughing Cow survey

London: According to a study conducted by The Laughing Cow®*, despite the past year being hailed as the year of the size 00 celebrity figure, over a third (34%) of sensible British women polled now cite Charlotte Church, rather than skinny Victoria Beckham, as having the perfect figure, with size 12 being the aspirational size of the majority of women.

However 40% of men considered the sporting physique of Victoria’s husband, David Beckham, as being their ideal goal, according to The Laughing Cow® Extra Light Diet Survey, an in-depth analysis of the British attitude, aspirations and approach to dieting.

The Report’s results show that the average diet lasts just five and half weeks. With 48% of people starting their summer holiday diets in March, in preparation for showing off their figures in June, July or August, mid April is the danger period for a weakening of resolve – perhaps due to the temptation of all those Easter eggs, as 50% give lack of will power as the main reason for failing to stick with a diet! The results are available for all to view on www.laughingcowdietreport.co.uk, which also offers tips, advice and recipes to help would be slimmers stay on track to achieve realistic weight loss goals via a healthily balanced diet.

We’re a Nation of Bridget Jones’s – Always on a Diet
The revealing results also show that 1 in 10 (or 6,658,630) Brits are currently on a weight loss diet – amazingly, if gathered together, this number equates the total population of Scotland and Northern Ireland combined. What’s more, like popular fictional character Bridget Jones, 21% of dieters consider themselves as always on a diet, with the average dieter spending around £150 per diet on special diet foods.

Sisters Are Dieting for Themselves
On motivation, three quarters (75%) of all dieters claim that they want to slim for themselves, with less than a fifth (18%) wishing to lose weight to please their partners. 70% of dieters also cited health as a reason for wanting to slim, although half of all women dieters are driven to diet in a quest to look good in fashionable clothes (58%) or simply boost their confidence (59%).

Dieting to Extremes?
Many are now taking a sensible approach to dieting, with 85% considering eating smaller portions to shift weight, 64% considering consuming only low fat foods and 44% pondering joining the gym. However some contemplate going to extreme lengths to shed excess weight, with 22% thinking about taking weight loss pills, 12% considering a liquid diet and nearly 1 in 10 (9%) pondering surgery.

Cheese and Chocolate Cravings
Craving comfort food, a fifth (20%) of those polled cited cheese as the food they most craved when dieting, beaten only by the ubiquitous chocolate (23%). Nearly half (48%) of dieters wished that cheese was less fattening, although over half (52%) considered cheese as a healthy food.

The survey was commissioned by the dieter’s friend, The Laughing Cow® Extra Light, the first truly low-fat cheese portions, packed with all the Laughing Cow cheese taste and goodness but with only 3% fat and just 20 k-calories per individual triangle.

To support wavering and would-be slimmers, The Laughing Cow® Extra Light has launched an exciting microsite – www.laughingcowextralight.co.uk and have teamed up with respected nutritionists and registered dieticians, Sian Porter and Azmina Govindji, to bring you a site packed with dieting tips, tasty recipes, tips from real life dieters, plus the opportunity to download a free podcast offering an inspirational practical guide to successful dieting.

Jo Wozniak, Group Brand Manager, The Laughing Cow® commented: “The Laughing Cow® Extra Light Diet Survey reveals many insights into the different attitudes, approaches and aspirations of slimmers and identified five distinct dieting types that each take a different approach to weight loss. As April is the month when the majority look likely to fall off the pre summer holiday diet bandwagon, we believe that the motivational tips, information and advice offered on our microsite will go some way towards helping slimmers lighten up and stay on track. Understanding different slimmers’ needs, motivations and difficulties is important as it enables us at The Laughing Cow® to devise ways to help slimmers achieve their dieting goals with a healthily balanced approach.”

Diet doctors call for a ban on super-skinny models

London: A leading group of doctors has called for a ban on super-skinny models after an upsurge in eating disorders.

In a letter to the British Fashion Council doctors and specialists from the Eating Disorders Service and Research Unit at King’s College London said that the models were ‘clearly anorexic’.

A Member of Parliament has also tabled a Commons motion asking the British Fashion Council to ban ultra-thin models.

The outcry against skinny models comes in the wake of the increasing popularity of dieting to fit into the latest size 0 and even 00 clothes, worn by celebrities such as actress Nicole Richie.

The letter said: ‘The fashion industry, from designers to magazine editors, should not be making icons out of anorexically thin girls. Magazines should stop printing these pictures and designers should stop designing for these models.

‘People may say that clothes look better on skinny models but don’t forget there was a time when we thought smoking looked good too.’

Janet Treasure, who wrote the letter and is head of the Eating Disorders Service and Research Unit at King’s College said that ‘thinspiration’ has led to an increase in bulimia and anorexia sufferers.

Professor Treasure said: ‘We know that this fashion for thin models prompts concern about weight and concern about shape in young women.

This year, models with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18 – classified as underweight by the World Health Organisation – were banned from the Madrid fashion week by local government officials following the death of a model in South America.