Body beautiful

Would you ever consider plastic surgery? Half of women quizzed said they would

One in two women, including some as young as 17, would consider plastic surgery, according to a survey of almost 25,000 people published today.

Almost a third (31%) of women who are size 12 also think they are overweight or fat, according to the poll for BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat and 1xtra TXU.

Among those who are a size 14 - still below the UK average of a size 16 - 66% think they are overweight or fat. And almost half (43%) of all women questioned said they had skipped a meal to try and lose weight while 8% had made themselves sick. The vast majority of people responding to the survey, 85%, were aged 17 to 35. In total, 37% were male and 63% were female.

Body conscious

Half of the women said there was "lots they would change" about their body while more than one in 10 said they "hated" it.  In contrast, half of men (49%) said they were "okay" with how they look, and one in 10 were "very happy" with their appearance.

More than half (53%) of girls aged 12 to 16 felt their body image either stopped them from getting a boyfriend or meant they cannot relax in a relationship. Less than a quarter of men said they would opt for cosmetic surgery, but of those women who would consider it, 36% were thinking of a boob job while 32% would choose liposuction.

Despite the recent debate, less than 1% of respondents said they were size zero (UK size 4). However, more than one in five of the women were on a diet, compared to fewer than one in 10 of the men. Weight Watchers was by far the most popular diet, with almost 20% of dieters following it. Atkins had attracted just 1% of dieters.

One in five (20%) of men in their early 20s said they had taken protein supplements, compared with 11% of those aged over-35.