Objective: To establish the association between intentional weight control and specific eating behaviours.
Design: An interview-based survey of a representative sample of the UK population including questions about demographic characteristics, weight and height, intentional weight control and eating behaviours. Associations among the eating behaviours, and between weight control and eating behaviours, were examined.
Subjects: 1894 men and women completed the interview (70% response rate).
Results: Approximately equal proportions of the sample were 'not bothered about weight' (30%), 'watching their weight' (36%), or 'trying to lose weight' (28%). More men were 'not bothered' and more women were 'trying to lose'. People who were trying to lose or were watching their weight were more likely to report restricting fats, sugars, snacks, and the amount eaten at meals, than those who were not bothered, but there were no differences between weight watchers and weight losers. The overall level of restriction among weight losers was modest. There were no group differences in eating breakfast, fruits or vegetables, skipping meals or fasting.
Conclusions: Around two-thirds of the adult population of the UK appear to be concerned about weight control, and this is reflected in somewhat higher than average adherence to recommended restrictive dietary habits.