保持苗条身材是不少女性梦寐以求的事，为此不惜花费大量时间和金钱。英国一项对４０００名女性的调查显示，英国普通女性一生中花在节食上的时间累计长达１０年。
十年为节食
调查发现，一般情况下，英国女性每年平均为自己制定两次节食计划，每次节食大约持续５周。依此类推，从１８岁到７０岁，英国女性平均实施１０４次节食计划，换言之，女性一生中累计约有１０年在限制自己进食。
调查还显示，约十分之一的英国女性对自己更为苛刻，她们一生中花在节食上的时间累计可高达２５年，甚至更多。
按每次节食体重减轻约２.８千克计算，节食女性每人每年体重约减轻６千克。
然而，约有四分之一的受访女性表示，节食并未长期有效帮助她们减轻体重。事实上，女性每年至少实施两次节食计划本身就表明，整体来看节食减肥并不奏效。
研究显示，三分之一的英国女性从１６岁开始节食。然而，４４％的受访者说无论自己采取何种方法，依然不能有效减肥。５９％的受访者称自己永远无法达到理想的体型。
为美丽奋斗
调查中，３９％的受访者表示，减肥是为了让自己更苗条，因为臃肿的身材令她们羞愧。７７％的受访者支持禁止张贴影视明星和模特的海报，以减轻普通女性的心理压力。
英国《每日电讯报》２６日援引英国国王大学神经病学研究所格伦·威尔逊教授的话说：“这种现象突显出妇女对自己体重的重视程度，以及她们为保持身材承受的压力。”
然而，节食并非美丽的唯一代价。一家电熨斗生产商进行的一项研究显示，英国妇女一生熨烫的衣服累计可长达约３４６公里，相当于国际马拉松赛程的８倍。这家企业的发言人说：“熨烫衣服已经成为妇女生活的一部分，衣服熨烫的好坏会影响别人对你的第一印象。”
不过，并非所有英国女性节食都是为了身材。３２％的受访女性表示，她们减肥是为了表现得更有责任感，这样会对孩子产生积极影响。
美体要理性
威尔逊指出，妇女的体重会随着生活环境的变化发生改变，比如怀孕、恋情的发展以及工作环境的改变等。
他说：“对一个人的整体健康快乐状态而言，感觉健康和身材苗条完全是两码事，然而许多人想方设法要达到或保持她们的理想体态，甚至有２５％的人不惜一切代价减肥。”
英国减肥产品生产商ＬＩＰＯｂｉｎｄ一名发言人说：“没有一种神奇药物可以让人减轻体重。但是，成千上万的人认为，服用减肥辅助药物会使自己增加信心，从而开始一种新的生活方式。”
译文:
A British survey showed: Women spend 10 years on dieting through their lifetime
Many women earnestly long for keeping slim and for which they consume a lot of time and money at any cost. British women totally spend 10 years on a diet over the course of their life, a poll of 4000 of women from Britain revealed.
10 years sliming
According to the survey, generally speaking, average British women have a diet twice for one year and each time is of about five weeks. It can be deduced by analogy that average British women have dieting 104 times from eighteen to seventy. In other words, women spend about 10 years on slimming through their lifetime.
It also found that about one tenth of British women are much stricter with themselves for they spending 25 years or even more on dieting over the course of their life.
If one can lose 2.8 kg after once diet, then each dieter would lose 6kg a year.
However, one fourth of those surveyed said dieting is not an effective way to lose weight for a long time. In fact, for those dieters, twice or more slimming a year has showed having a diet is not effective to lose weight.
The survey has revealed that a third of British women have a first diet at the age of 16, as well. But about 44% polled people said they can’t successfully lost weight by any method they conduct. And 59% said they never can get perfect figure.
Fight for beauty
In the survey, 39% polled women said the reason for they having a diet was to be thinner because they always feel shamefaced for their gross figure. And about 77% said bills of movie stars and models should be forbidden to put up so as to lessen mental pressure from common women.
On 26th The Daily Telegraph from Britain cited the words by professor Glen﹒ Wilson, working in the Neurological Institute of King’s College. “This phenomenon shows women have great attention to their figure and bear heavy pressure to keep slim.”
However, slimming is not the only standard for beauty. An enterprise that products electric iron made a poll and from which it found that length of the ironed clothes by British women is about 346 kilometers during their whole life. It is eight times as long as that of international marathon leg. A spokesman from this enterprise said “ironing has become one part of women’s life and whether one can do a good job on ironing influence her first expression.”
But I should say not every British woman having a diet is to get perfect figure. 32% polled women said dieting is to be more responsible so as to have active influence on their children.
Dieting should be rational
Wilson pointed out weight would change in accordance with changes from the living environment, such as pregnancy, loving progress, and working environment.
He said “as to healthy condition and happiness of the whole body, keeping healthy is quite different from being slim. Unfortunately, many women try their best to have or keep perfect figure and even about 25% take sliming at all coasts.”
A spokesman from LIPObind, an enterprise working in slimming products, said “there has never been an amazing drug that can help lose weight. But thousands upon thousands people believe that taking an ancillary drug to lose weight can benefit for confidence increase, which help they have a new start through their life. ”