A woman who slips confidently into a size 12 jeans might be the envy of her larger friends, but the reality is she still hates what she sees in the mirror.
The research, based on more than 2,200 volunteers by diet company Slimming World, provides a disturbing insight into self-esteem of British women.
The participants were asked to look at themselves in the mirror and select from 12 adjectives to describe how they felt or looked.
They were also measured to determine whether they were overweight or stood within the healthy limits.
Among those women whose weight was judged to be just right, only 13 percent said they felt happy when they saw themselves in the mirror and only six percent - or one in 17 - thought they were slim.
The research also involved men, who, however, showed much more body confidence.
Just 6 percent of men with a healthy weight described themselves as fat.
"Women worry much more than men about what people think and they hate how they look and feel. Buying clothes and getting dressed to go out becomes a major anxiety," said Slimming World MD Caryl Richards.
The company's poll also found the obese struggle with their emotions in at least five everyday situations, from looking in the mirror and at holiday snaps, to seeing old friends, trying clothes on in a shop, and getting dressed for a night out.
Psychologist Pam Spurr, who discusses body image in her book 'How To Be A Happy Human', said many women are not satisfied unless they are 'supermodel thin'. (ANI)
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