According to recent government research an obesity crisis on the scale of climate change is to be expected if current trends continue - with warnings that half the population will be obese within 25 years.

But body image issues are nothing new to the majority of women.

According to the 2007 diet and body survey, commissioned by NOW magazine, only 2% of women are happy with their body shape and the average woman would spend £11,000 for a better one.

The results published today suggest less than one in ten women who lose weight by dieting manage to keep it off and most end up on a cycle of calorie counting diets which last a lifetime.

The survey of 2,000 people reveals women in the South are the most extreme dieters.

Almost half of us started dieting before the age of 17 and we're also the most likely to opt for crash diets and funny eating fads such as skipping meals or making ourselves sick after food.

Southern belles are also the biggest wineaholics and over a fifth admit spirits are one of our main dieting downfalls. Most disturbing seven out of 10 women in our area think slim women with a good body shape climb career ladders quicker with 68% thinking slender, shapely women need less experience to secure a good job.

Six out of 10 respondents believe trim women are automatically offered a higher salary than their chubbier contemporaries.

Losing weight is clearly high on the list of priorities, with women willing to try anything to shed those stones.

Almost four out of 10 have popped slimming pills - and laxatives, amphetamine and even class A drugs such as cocaine were also listed as flab fighting aids. It seems the female of the species will stop at nothing to perfect their appearance.

More than half are willing to go under the surgeon's knife to improve their body image and one in 10 admitted they would have a gastric band fitted.

When asked to pick the male and female celebrities with the best bodies, Beckham topped the men's category, closely followed by acting sensations Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig, Johnny Depp and Matthew Mcconnaughey.

For the women, Kelly Brook was most admired, with Angelina Jolie, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue and Halle Berry also hailed as having flawless figures.

Victoria Beckham's thin frame was voted as the worst female shape whilst Johnny Vegas' plump physique topped the list for the most abhorrent male body type.

Helen Johnston, Editor of NOW said: "Women today have a shocking relationship with food and are living a binge/purge lifestyle.

"Body image is the female curse of the 21st century. Feeling overweight or the wrong shape ruins women's lives. Their body shape is the first thing they think about when they wake up and the last thing they think about before going to sleep. Getting on the scales and finding they're a pound heavier sends them into a spiral of body despair. Whatever a woman's achievements in life, her whole self-image is totally bound up in her body shape."