'We're too fat'
Survey reveals that majority of Singaporeans are
trying to lose
weight. And they'd rather diet than exercise
By Karl Ho
HERE'S a piece of news that should send slimming salons into a feeding frenzy for new clients: Nearly half of all Singaporeans think they're fat, but they would rather go on a diet than subject themselves to a workout.
This is according to an AC Nielsen online consumer survey which was conducted in May and whose results were released yesterday.
It polled 9,500 people in 13 countries across the Asia Pacific, such as China, Indonesia and New Zealand.
While 45 per cent of the 537 Singaporeans surveyed considered themselves overweight, a whopping 80 per cent said they were trying to lose weight.
And their diet plan?
Cutting down on fats proved to be the most popular method, with 31 per cent of those polled citing this, followed by reducing their intake of chocolate and sugar, which got 22 per cent of the votes.
Diet pills was the third
most favoured method with nearly 12 per cent of those
surveyed.
Singaporeans were not the most fanatical about losing weight though. Here, they were pipped by the Thais, Filipinos, Malaysians and Koreans. The last-mentioned tipped the scales with nine in 10 saying they wanted to lose weight.
While the survey does not reveal the body mass indexes (BMI) of those polled to determine if they are truly overweight, it does show that Singapore is one of the more weight-obsessed countries in the Asia Pacific region, and that women are more weight-conscious than men.
The obsession with weight is reflected in gyms such as Planet Fitness, says Mr Alvin Cheah.
The personal training manager at Planet Fitness' Suntec City branch says: 'Some will tell you that exercising helps you destress, but almost 90 per cent of the members just want to look good.'
While some do hit the gym machines, health and psychology experts believe that Singaporeans are more attracted by the 'quick fix' solutions presented by slimming salons.
'From all these before and after pictures and endorsements by celebrities who are already thin, people think that dieting is easy,' says consultant psychiatrist Brian Yeo. 'We tell people to eat less and work out more, but the public would rather still focus on the idea that a pill does the job.'
Dr Yeo says that the Asia Pacific preoccupation with
weight is slowly catching up with that in the West,
despite the fact that obesity
levels here are not as high.
'This is obviously not healthy if taken to the extreme,' he adds.
Psychiatrist Calvin Fones says that while people place a premium on attractiveness and weight, the flip side is that they are now 'paying a greater premium to health and fitness too'.
The chief of psychological medicine at the National University Hospital says that people must realise the mismatch between the 'exaggerated media ideal of beauty' and what is realistically attainable.
'One must develop self esteem and confidence and realise that, in many ways, supermodels' body types are not normal,' he says. 'You have to realise that all societies set standards for people to aspire to, and you don't have to look like a supermodel to be attractive.'
For Planet Fitness' Mr Cheah, there are no short cuts when it comes to attaining a beautiful body.
'Slimming centres might say they can take off a few centimetres from your waist,' he says. 'But can they guarantee an improvement in blood pressure, resting heart rate and cardio strength like a gym?'
Source:http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg
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