Investigating motivations for weight loss and benefits of attending a commercial weight management organisation post-natally

Abstract

Previous reports have indicated that women feel pressure from celebrity culture andwider society to lose weight swiftly after having a baby (Netmums and The Royal College of Midwives, 2010). The aim of this study was to investigate women’s motivations to lose weight postnatally, weight loss achieved and impact on selfesteem. A survey of women attending Slimming World (SW) who had given birth in the last 2 years was hosted on SWweb-site during September 2013. The survey used quantitative and qualitative questions to determine motivation and lifestyle behaviours and asked for self-reported weight and height. 1015 women responded. The majority of participants (n = 533, 52.5%) had been members for <3months; mean joining BMI was 33.3 kg/m2 (SD 5.85) and mean BMI at time of survey 30.5 kg/m2 (SD 5.86). The main reasons for wanting to lose weight were ‘to improve how I feel about my body size and shape’ (22%), ‘to improve my confidence’ (19%) and ‘to lose weight I gained during pregnancy’ (17%). A combined 3% citedmedia/ social pressure as a reason to lose weight and 31% agreed to feeling under social/media pressure to be an ideal weight post-natally. A range of weight gains in pregnancywere reported, themost common being between 1 and 2 stone. 71% (n = 611) of those who already had children reported having retained weight from a previous pregnancy. 82% said retaining weight postnatally affected their selfesteem. After losing weight with SW, 38% were lighter than their pre-pregnancy weight and 78.6% expressed improvements in selfesteem since joining SW. Social/media pressure plays a minimal role in a woman’s decision to lose weight post-natally. Motivation is more personal. Attendance at SW resulted in weight loss and improved self-esteem in post-natal women.