Charity for the overweight aims to shed insults as well as pounds

Overweight people have long been a target for ridicule and prejudice, but now Britain's first national charity to help them is aiming to give the growing problem of obesity the status it deserves.

Weight Concern, which will be launched next week, has been set up by psychologists, dieticians and physiologists to provide better advice, support and treatment for the condition.

Levels of obesity in the United Kingdom are rising faster than in most other European countries and more than half of all adults exceed their recommended weight. This includes 20 per cent who are clinically obese. The proportion of children who are overweight or obese has almost doubled in the past decade.

But despite the escalation of obesity, and the associated risks to health, it is a neglected area of NHS funding with very few specialist services.

The new charity will provide expert advice on weight control, undertake research on the causes, consequences and treatment of obesity, and provide a platform for obese people to have their voice heard.

Jane Wardle, a co-founder of Weight Concern and professor of clinical psychology at University College London, said: "Overweight people in this country have tremendous difficulties. There is very little in the way of resources, so little understanding among health professionals or anyone else, and very little sympathy.

"They are the target of mockery from all quarters and subject to endemic prejudice."

Prof Wardle said overweight people often experienced social difficulties, problems with relationships, and received little medical support when they tried to shed excess pounds. "It is a neglected area in terms of NHS resources, but not at all at the commercial end of things. You can hardly pick up a magazine without being swamped with information about keeping slim. Given the magnitude of the problem we are going to have, we will need to be very imaginative about what to do about it," she said.

The charity was first registered in 1996 but the founders have spent the past five years conducting research and building up a resource base that is ready to cope with an expected "deluge" of inquiries after its launch on Thursday.

The Department of Health and the British Heart Foundation have provided some of the initial funding, including a grant to research treatments for childhood obesity. The charity is also conducting training for dieticians and other health professionals to help with advice, not only on correct foods to eat, but on how to deal with the behavioural aspects.

People will be able to join Weight Concern with a £15 annual subscription, which will help to fund the charity. They will receive a regular newsletter, and the chance to consult a psychologist and dietician on the internet and to take part in research. Members will also be asked for their views through regular questionnaires.

The charity's launch coincides with a new eight-part Granada documentary series, called Fat Club, in which 10 seriously overweight people will attempt to slim. The show, to be screened on ITV from Tuesday, is another sign that public awareness about the dangers of obesity is growing.

Donna Norris, grandmother of 40 years who lives with her husband, Tony, in Somerset, is depicted trying to lose two stone so that she can be considered for a breast reduction operation.

Mrs Norris said her weight problems started after a traumatic childhood and at times she had weighed more than 18 stone. For a decade during her 20s, she wrestled with bulimia and suffered from clinical depression, but says she has now started to manage her weight successfully.

"I was classed as morbidly obese, which means you are putting a big strain on your heart. Being fat was a real drag on my life. There were always things I wanted to do with the children, but couldn't.

"It makes me cross that doctors don't do more to help. Too often you seem to be regarded as a lazy, fat person even though that may be unfair.

"The new charity is a marvellous idea. If the NHS had addressed the problem a long time ago, it could have alleviated a lot of the strain on the health service."

Prof Wardle said: "There seems to be more willingness to see obesity and excess weight as something we can't just jeer at and ignore. We can't just keep writing off the problem as a few weak-willed souls."