A study has revealed that four out of ten women who go on a diet actually end up putting on more weight than when they first started.

The research showed that one in ten gives up after just one day, with only a fifth lasting past a week, and that the average female dieter actually gained 5.2lbs once the target has been reached and dieting ceases.

It also found that a large percentage of women started noticing the pounds creeping back on just 21 days after reaching their ideal weight.

The 'Food: Body: Mind' report was commissioned by Jenny Craig who quizzed 2000 women aged between 18 and 65 who diet regularly on their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours around weight loss.

Six in ten said they are currently on a diet and one in five women said they are on a 'continuous diet', and many blamed pressure they put on themselves to lose weight too quickly for the weight gain, as it left them with a bigger appetite than normal.

"In the UK 61.4 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Successful weight management requires a long-term commitment in order to lose weight successfully and for good," the Daily Mail quoted Dr Ian Campbell of the Jenny Craig weight management programme, as saying.

"Too many women simply flirt with the notion of dieting via unhealthy yo-yo dieting or quick fix solutions - rather than entering into a proper long-term relationship with healthy eating.

"Successful weight management requires a holistic and committed approach focusing on food, body and mind.

"We can often be too focused on the high impact diets that deliver flash-in-the-pan results and then let us down, rather than thinking about how to keep the weight off in the weeks, months and years down-the-line.

"Dieting can be a real challenge so setting realistic goals and remaining focused on them is important.

"Otherwise as this research shows, women could end up heavier than when they started," Campbell added. (ANI)