Anne Diamond to write Size: The untold truth about dieting and weight loss

7th April 2008:  TV personality and journalist Anne Diamond will be writing a documentary-style book about the world obesity epidemic, as seen through the eyes of someone who has fought her own personal battle with weight, and who still asks the question: “Why did it happen to me?” Size: The untold truth about dieting and weight loss will publish in January 2009.

Diamond’s book,  will outline a far more uncomfortable truth than global warming – a planet-wide epidemic which is affecting even the Third World, where obesity now co-exists with starvation.
“ Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb – that’s the phrase used by campaigners about global warming,” says Anne, whose own health campaigning led to her being awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Paediatricians – the only non-medic to ever receive the award. “But the obesity epidemic is actually far more urgent and devastating.
“From all of the obesity experts I have spoken to, from Sydney to Washington DC, from Mumbai to Tokyo, I have learned that obesity is now the biggest threat to mankind – because it will kill most of us before global warming ever hits.
Apart from the immense human suffering, there is also a financial cost – in Britain alone, obesity is spending an annual 3.7billion. That’s going to cripple the NHS.
“Yes, humanity is sitting on a timebomb – its own enormous backside!”

To write Size: The untold truth about dieting and weight loss, Diamond will travel to India, where obesity surgeons now treat up to 20,000 patients who are suffering from what is becoming known as a middle class disease. To Japan, which  until just 20 years ago was hailed as one of the world’s most healthy lifestyles, where  23 million people are now obese. To Australia, where already the MAJORITY of the population is obese- and to the USA where politicians have acknowledged that obesity is the biggest potential killer since the Cold War.

Anne Diamond is one of Britain’s best known journalists and TV stars, her highs and lows followed by millions – and her highly publicised battle with weight has now become the cornerstone of her popular appeal. In the 80s, the “the elfin queen of breakfast television” was watched by a daily 14 million people who have stayed with her, grown up (and out) and had families too.
Being a famous fattie has taught Anne an unforgettable lesson. Now she is determined to change society’s attitudes towards fat and how to overcome it.

“Fat is not the fault of the individual, “ she says, “it’s due to our crazy lifestyles – and that’s the fault of government, schools, the workplace, the food industry and even the media. As Health Minister, Alan Johnson, has now acknowledged – “the core of the problem is simple – we eat too much and undertake too little physical activity. The solution is more complex”. So stop throwing blame at fatties and show them some constructive compassion and practical help. A greater understanding of the issue will help everyone beat their own personal problem and help us build a healthier society, too!”

For further information, to arrange an interview or to request a review copy, please contact Julia Lampam at Wiley or Tony Fitzpatrick at TFA Group.

Size: The untold truth about dieting and weight loss by Anne Diamond
To be published by Capstone, A Wiley Company, in January 2009
£14.99  Paperback Original