Britons are getting bigger

The average British waistline has increased by more than six inches since 1952, the biggest ever survey of body size revealed today.

Experts blame the rise on the growing fast-food culture and a lack of exercise.

The government-commissioned study used a 3D scanner to measure more than 11,000 people. It found a rise in all body measurements in both men and women.

"We were shocked by the results," said Philip Treleaven, director of the UK National Sizing Survey. "We expected an increase, but the waistline has just exploded.

"Measurements like hips and chest increased by about 11/2 inches, but we really hope the health industry takes note of the average 61/2-inch waistline increase.

This is a big problem for the country.

"Our data found over 35 per cent of British people are overweight. We've all suspected this just from looking around, but this is clear evidence of the change, and something needs to be done."

Retailers have already used the data to create new, more realistic shop mannequins, and hope to change their sizing methods to reflect the changing shape of today's customer.

Liza Colbeck of House of Fraser, which took part in the study with 16 other retailers, claims the data proved just how bad we are at estimating our own clothes size.

"Shoppers always complain their clothes don't fit, but this really showed them how bad they are at estimating their size," said Ms Colbeck.

"We also found age comes into play, for instance a 45-year-old size 16 is very different from a 35-year-old."

In addition to their plans to use the data to create new, more realistic sizing methods, retailers are able to create distribution maps for stores - identifying, for example, areas where there is likely to be more demand from larger people. However, the retailers refused to reveal which areas of Britain have the biggest people, claiming the data was confidential.

Some shops, such as Selfridges, already offer 3D body scanning for customers allowing them to " virtually try on" clothes, and it is hoped many more could set up similar scanners.

Andrew Crawford of fashion technology experts Bodymetrics, responsible for the scanning, believes the data will also be used outside the fashion industry.

"We hope train and car makers will use this to create realisticallysized seats," he said. "There are an awful lot of opportunities for this data."

Measurements were taken using a complex 3D scanning booth. A patterned light was projected on to people, and the ref lections analysed.

This allowed the survey to create 3D images of everyone who took part. More than 130 measurements were taken from every participant, which are now stored on a national size database.

"We can recreate the exact image of anyone who took part," said Mr Crawford. "With a bit of tweaking, we can then use the images to make a mannequin for a store. This is invaluable data, particularly as many companies who make clothes aren't in the UK. Ultimately, it is hoped this will lead to better-fitting clothes."