The war on Weight Watchers

Princess Diana's former therapist is threatening a multi-million-pound lawsuit against Weight Watchers because, she says, its members fail to keep off the pounds they shed.

Susie Orbach claims that more than nine in ten devotees of the American organisation's eating system regain weight.

She says she is acting on behalf of former Weight Watchers who, despite handing over money based on promises of a slimmer figure, ended up larger than when they started.

The action puts Miss Orbach, who treated Diana for bulimia, in conflict with the Princess's former sister-in-law the Duchess of York.

Fergie has been the U.S. ambassador for Weight Watchers in a deal reputedly worth £600,000 a year since 1997.

It was reported earlier this year that the 42-year-old duchess, who has seen her weight fluctuate wildly, had lost 22lb in four months and is now a size 10.

It is unclear whether the planned legal action would be pursued in the UK or the U.S.

Miss Orbach, 55, is the driving force behind a lobbying group, AnyBody, which argues that dieting is positively dangerous.

The author of Fat is a Feminist Issue in the 1970s and, more recently, Susie Orbach On Eating, claims the Weight Watchers philosophy is based on a lie.

'Commercial dieting companies like Weight Watchers sell you the idea that your life will become a whole lot better if you join them,' she said.

'What they do not tell you is that dieting ruins your metabolism. When you diet your metabolism slows down and so dieting actually makes you fat.'

The world diet industry is hugely profitable. Profits at the U.S. parent company Weight Watchers Inc increased to £126million for the three months from July to September, up 31 per cent on the same period last year.

Miss Orbach claims to have been told by a Weight Watchers source back in the 1980s that 97 per cent of their members were putting weight back on after completing the diet.

She says she also has evidence from members. 'We're taking these companies to task for untold harm,' she said.

'If people believe it works then they should know that it only works for three people out of every 100.'

Dieting programmes at Weight Watchers are based on a points system. Most food and drinks are given a value, based on their saturated fat and calories content. Members are then allocated a maximum number of daily points, depending on their weight, with the aim to reach a specific target.

The company mainly works with its members through group meeting sessions run by a Weight Watchers leader. The initial registration fee is £9 but members also pay a weekly fee of £4.50 to attend a weigh-in and meeting of up to an hour.

The alternative programmes are an eight-week dieting-at-home package which costs £44.95 and an online plan costing £49.95 for the initial three months and £9.95 for each month after.

Miss Orbach insists that if the system used by companies such as Weight Watchers worked, then customers would have to sign up only once. But instead, she says, the industry relies on clients returning to its diet programmes and products over and over again.

A Weight Watchers spokesman denied the claim that 97 per cent of members fail to keep the pounds off.

'I don't know where that figure came from and as far as I'm concerned it's hearsay that just isn't true,' she said.

'We are a company designed to teach people to keep the weight off longterm.

'Group support is incredibly successful and when members leave that environment they tend to put some weight back on.

'But once they reach their goal weight they are not abandoned. As long as they stay within 5lb of the weight they can receive our services and support free of charge to ensure that they maintain that weight.'