Women spend up to 8 hours per week engaged in weight loss thoughts

If you’ve ever embarked on a weight loss journey, you might know the feeling of having your thoughts, emotions and actions dominated by your progress.

A new report from Juniper has found that this is the case for close to 20% of Australian women, who spend up to 8 hours a week engaged in weight loss thoughts [1].

Juniper’s ‘True cost of diet culture’ report has unearthed the toll of failing diet culture on women — despite a large chunk of time and emotional energy being spent on weight loss, rates of obesity continue to increase. 

Data shows that adult obesity rates rose from 27.9% in 2014 to 31.3% in 2017, which is an increase of 12% [2]. Clearly, the traditional diet approach of “eat less, move more” is not working, yet it continues to dominate the rhetoric of the weight loss world. 

“More time and money than ever before is being invested in dieting and perceived quick fixes when obesity is a medical condition that requires professional support and medical intervention,” says endocrinologist and Juniper spokesperson, Dr Ramy Bishay.

“We simply can’t expect women to undo thousands of years of adaptation to starvation, which has dominated human history, in a matter of weeks or months by ‘eating less and moving more’. This mantra is failing Australian women. It’s hard-wired, built-in physiology. This report captures this precisely.”

The true cost of diet culture

What does this issue look like in numbers? Well, here’s what Juniper’s report found:

Dieting is eating into women’s time

• 6 in 10 (60%) women are either dieting or restricting their eating habits to lose weight at some time each year.
• Almost 1 million (919,000) Australian women revealed they are permanently on a diet or practicing restrictive eating to lose weight.

The mental toll weighs heavy

• More than a third of women (35%) who think about or engage in activities with the purpose of losing weight say they experience negative emotions when they do so including feelings of depression, anxiety, stress, feeling overwhelmed, powerless, or sadness.

Expert support is needed to keep weight off long term

• More than 2 in 5 (42%) Australian women who diet say that on their last weight loss attempt, they did not consult a healthcare professional. 
• Australian women who consulted with an expert were more successful in their last attempt at weight loss compared to those women who did not (72% compared to 54%).

Geographical barriers are impinging access to weight loss advice 

• 1 in 5 (19%) of those in regional areas who didn’t consult a health professional during their last attempt at dieting also cited that they either can’t get an appointment or don’t have a regular GP or nearby health professional to talk to about weight loss.
• Those in regional areas are more likely than their city counterparts to experience negative emotions when it comes to thinking about or engaging in activities with the purpose of losing weight (38% versus 33%). 

It’s clear that the current approach to weight loss isn’t working and it’s not the fault of those trying to lose weight — many of the weight loss programs and regimes out there simply aren’t designed for successful results. 

In order to successfully manage obesity, a combination of behavioural change, clinically-proven treatments and professional support is required. Research suggests this multidisciplinary approach can reduce key risk factors associated with being overweight and improve one’s healthspan. 

How Juniper is helping women win back their lost time

This is where Juniper can help — both in losing weight and keeping it off. 

Our Weight Reset Program has helped more than 130,000 Australian women handle the mental strain of weight loss. Our personalised coaching program takes a holistic approach to weight loss — get treatment that targets weight gain on a biological level, plus a dietitian-led program that supports long-term weight maintenance.

Our program helps to reduce food noise and alleviate some of the emotional labour that losing weight requires by providing tailored support, at every stage of the weight management journey.

Our model of care includes:

• Professional health coaching: We provide access to health coaches, medical support specialists and a supervising doctor for nutrition and movement education. 
• 1:1 support: Every Juniper patient is connected with a multidisciplinary team, consisting of a GP, nutritionist, health coach and patient support specialist to coordinate care throughout their weight loss journey. 
• Regional access: For regional patients, Juniper offers a convenient and effective pathway for lasting weight loss. In fact, almost 30% of our patients are located in regional or rural areas. On average, patients receive at least 10 touch points of communication with Juniper’s platform in the first 2 weeks of their program. This model of telehealth saves patients valuable travel time and costs, while reducing the emotional stress of feeling unsupported and isolated on their weight loss journey, particularly for patients who face significant barriers to attending regular consults with multiple clinicians to manage their weight.

Weight loss is never a linear journey and it can often feel like a lonely one, too. Juniper provides a pathway for long-term weight loss and we’re with you every step of the way, through ongoing dietitian support, meal plans, health education, and progress tracking. 

Through creating meaningful change, we empower our members to put their weight in their control, for good.