How most size 12 women still believe they are too fat

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A woman who slips confidently into a size 12 dress may be the envy of her larger friends, but the chances are she still hates what she sees in the mirror.

Research shows that just one in 17 women of a healthy weight consider themselves to be slim.

For the study, which provides a disturbing insight into the self-esteem of British women, more than 2,000 volunteers were polled about their attitudes to their weight.

Among the questions was one in which they were asked to look in the mirror and pick one of 12 adjectives to describe how they felt or looked.

They were also asked to give details of their height and weight to work out whether they were too large for their height or sat within healthy limits.

Among those women whose weight was judged to be just right, only 13 per cent were happy with what they saw in the mirror.

And a mere 6 per cent – or one in 17 – with a healthy body mass index (BMI) described themselves as slim.

Some 17 per cent of women of a healthy weight described themselves as ‘fat’ and almost as many said they felt ‘down’ when they looked in the mirror, the research carried out by diet company Slimming World found.

Men, however, showed much more body confidence, with just 6 per cent of those of a healthy weight believing themselves to be fat.

As it depends on height, a healthy BMI can encompass women from clothing size six to 16.

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Pam Spurr, a psychologist who discusses body image in her book How To Be A Happy Human, said many women are not satisfied unless they are ‘supermodel thin’.

She said: ‘My own research found many women are overly preoccupied by thinking they are half a stone overweight.

‘And it is not just their own high standards. They think that others are looking at them and thinking they are overweight and have lumps and bumps. They believe our culture expects them to be thin like a supermodel.’

Slimming World managing director Caryl Richards said: ‘Women worry much more than men about what people think and they hate how they look and feel. Buying clothes and getting dressed to go out becomes a major anxiety.’

The company’s poll also found the obese struggle with their emotions in at least five everyday situations, from looking in the mirror and at holiday snaps, to seeing old friends, trying clothes on in a shop, and getting dressed for a night out.