Only 10% of Israelis stick to their diet
Survey finds that while many Israelis think they could lose a few pounds, most of them fail to stay on a diet for too long
Israelis want to lose weight, but are not willing to do much about it: A new survey reveled that more than 50% of the public define themselves as overweight, while over a third do not exercise and 70% just can't seem to be able to stick to a diet for too long.
The poll was conducted by the Center for Academic Studies in Or Yehuda among 510 respondents from throughout the country.
Asked how friends or families defined them, 18% of respondents replied "fat" and 51% said they are considered as having "curves in the right places." About a quarter of respondents said that even as children they felt chubby and wanted to lose weight. A similar number of respondents said that their weight problems started with puberty.
More than half of the respondents said that they preferred eating mostly in the evening, a quarter said that they usually like eating at noon, 11% follow the saying that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day," while 7% stated that their favorite time for eating was late at night.
Emotional eating
The survey also found that 44% eat when they are distressed or under pressure. A similar number decided to start a diet more than three times in the last year. A third of the respondents managed to stick to their diet for no more than two-three days, another third between a week and a month, and 20% held out for as long as six months.
Only 10% of those polled succeeded in holding on to their diet for more than a year.
Another grim finding showed that very few Israelis exercise on a regular basis, with 37% saying they do not exercise at all. Another third said they have regular fitness walks twice a week. Some 20% have joined a gym but did not bother visiting it, or cancelled their subscription altogether.
