Appearance urges mothers to diet

Ill-fitting clothes, unflattering photos and health concerns are the top three reasons why mothers are spurred on to lose weight, according to a survey.

New research shows that while a mother's main priority for family meals is keeping everyone else healthy and happy, when it comes to their own diet, it's more about how they look and feel, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The survey, by Wholegrain Goodness, a site that promotes healthy eating, indicates that when mothers stray from their diet, the overwhelming feeling is that of guilt, but other feelings range from feeling fat, to happy, naughty and satisfied.

The top ten reasons mothers gave for going on a diet are:

* Clothes not fitting

* Seeing unflattering photos

* Health reasons

* Having children

* A friend or family member losing weight

* Advice from a doctor or health professional

* Encouragement from a friend or family to lose weight

* A celebrity losing weight

* Something I read in the media

Commenting on the findings, psychologist Linda Papadopoulos said: "There are a number of factors behind the decision to try to lose weight, and sadly because we live in such a visual and image-driven society it's no surprise that the results indicate that for many a big motivator is appearance."