100 Million Dieters, $20 Billion: The Weight-Loss Industry by the Numbers

The weight loss "industry" is a $20 billion industry. How sad is that?

I was standing in the checkout line at Walmart  yesterday, and saw one of those gossip magazines...Star or People or Us or something of that ilk. Photo on the cover was of someone woman... "What's behind _______
s Dramatic Weight Loss" - and the photo was of some skeletal actress - her name escapes me at the moment.

Those gossip magazines really, really infuriate me. Ever look at their covers? Invariably the covers feature a woman actress. "Why is she so fat? Doesn't she know how bad she looks?"  "Why is sh so skinny? Can she have anorexia."  "Look at these baby bumps."  "Baby bump, or just fat."

Women just can't win. And the sad thing is that so many women continue to play the game and fall into the trap. They either get into the whole yo-yo dieting thing, or they give up completely and just pack on the pounds and sue doctors who dare to tell them they're too fat.

The solution is for women to stop buying the "I  have to look good for guys crap" and go for, "I have to be healthy so I can live a long, active, fun life."

From ABC News:  100 Million Dieters, $20 Billion: The Weight-Loss Industry by the Numbers
When you're trying to lose weight, the number that seems to matter most is the one you see on the scale. But there are plenty of other compelling numbers coming out of the growing weight-loss industry. Check out a few below and watch the full story on the "Losing It: The Big Fat Trap" on "20/20" online.

$20 Billion

The annual revenue of the U.S. weight-loss industry, including diet books, diet drugs and weight-loss surgeries.

108 Million

The number of people on diets in the United States. Dieters typically make four to five attempts per year.

85 Percent

The percentage of customers consuming weight-loss products and services who are female.

1 Hour

The amount of time spent on daily exercise by people who lost and kept off at least 30 pounds of excess weight for five years.

220,000

The number of people with morbid obesity in the United States who had bariatric surgery in 2009.

$11,500 to $26,000

The average cost of bariatric surgery, which reduces the size of the stomach.

$500,000 to $3 Million

The average salaries paid to celebrity endorsers of major weight-loss programs.

$33,000

The amount of money celebrity endorsers, on average, earn per pound lost.

$5,594

Cost for a week-long (six night) weight-loss program at Beau Rivage Palace, a luxury hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland. The program includes massages and personal training sessions and discourages deprivation.

2

The number of glasses of wine per day allowed to guests of the Beau Rivage Palace weight-loss program.
Sources: John LaRosa of MarketData; National Weight Control Registry; American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery; Jo Piazza, author of "Celebrity Inc.: How Famous People Make Money."