MORE than a third of overweight women have "surrendered to obesity", and are in denial about the need to lose weight because, according to a company that helps many Australians shed the kilograms.

A Newspoll survey conducted for Weight Watchers showed that 35% of Australian women who described themselves as overweight had become apathetic about losing weight. They also said they had not tried to lose weight in in the previous 12 months. Weight Watchers said the denial and apathy about weight loss also stemmed from the word "fat" becoming politically incorrect.

Weight Watchers general manager Sarah Verne said Australians were in denial about their need to lose weight.

"For a start, language has changed and it is no longer politically correct to use the word 'fat'," Ms Verne said. "Instead, we use terms like obese, which are easy to disengage from for most people who consider themselves not too heavy.
 

"People are starting to think that being overweight is normal and therefore acceptable and not something they need be concerned about."

She said the delusion was compounded by reality television programs such as The Biggest Loser, which pits obese people against each other in a battle to shed the most kilograms.

"(The programs) feature the most extreme examples of obesity, and we take solace that we are not that big," she said.

The survey was conducted last July among a national sample of 600 women who were aged 18 and over.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has declared the overweight and obesity epidemic a national health priority.

National studies have shown that about one in two adults and one in four children are overweight or obese.

Despite this, only 32% of men and 37% of women thought that they were overweight, according to the 2004-05 Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey. "Australia has to face up to the truth; we are one of the fattest nations in the world," Ms Verne said.