[Ruth]

Are we obsessed with it?

Yes.

Does the media make us that way?

Well, I definitely don't think it helps. Magazines like Heat etc., send out conflicting messages. One week they are calling people like Charlotte Church good role models for having a 'proper' figure, the next week they are saying she's chubby.

Do we judge others on how they look?

I think a lot of people do.
Are we more concerned about the cosmetic side of being overweight or underweight than the health issues?

Sadly, I think a lot of people are more concerned with the cosmetic side. I know lots of people who keep fit so that they keep slim, but if they could do no exercise and much chocolate all day, yet still stay slim, they would - even though it would be bad for their health.

Would we rather be underweight than overweight?

Again, sadly I think most women would.

Do women think men want them to be skinny?

Mostly yes. But I think most women think that slim is thinner than most men think it is.

What do men really think about women's weight?

Not as much as women do!!

Do you think the £Billion diet industry is a con?

It is absolutely a con. If it wasn't a con, everybody who ever went on a diet endorsed by this industry would lose weight and never need to diet again. Most dieters put back on all the weight they have lost, and more. A woman I work with is going back to Weight Watchers for about the 10th time (I'm not exaggerating). She says the meeting is full of people who have lost weight with WW and put it all back on again, so they go back. If it worked, why would they keep needing to go back again?

Should we be satisfied with how we look instead of striving for an impossible goal?

Well, to an extent yes. But being overweight is not healthy, and there is a real obesity problem in the UK. In years to come, the NHS will not be able to cope. In 2005, the NHS spent twice as much treating people with problems related to obesity than they did treating those with smoking related diseases.

Unfortunately though, there are too many people who are a perfectly healthy weight, who are obsessed with trying to get thinner. I used to have an eating disorder years ago, so I know exactly what this feels like. These days I am a healthy weight. I eat sensibly (90% of the time) and exercise regularly. I'm a size 10-12, which is normal and healthy, but for many people, that simply wouldn't be thin enough.