Have women in the UK become so entrenched in a quick-fix culture focused upon vanity that they have completely lost their common sense? It would appear that for many the answer to this question is unfortunately "yes". No wonder the NHS is groaning under the unnecessary weight which this attitude places upon its pockets.

The UKs largest cosmetic review website, GoodSurgeonGuide.co.uk, reported the results of a recent survey which attempted to ascertain the willingness of women in the UK to undertake surgery for reasons of either weight loss or pure cosmetic self-image. Out of the 1,200 odd ladies who completed the survey there were only a very slender percentage who said that they were happy as they were - a ridiculously slim six percent.

What struck me most out of all of their findings was that almost one third of the ladies in question admitted that they would intentionally pile on yet more pounds so as to become so overweight that they would qualify for weight loss surgery, be it gastric banding or liposuction. I just find this so horrific; this should be unthinkable!

What, you would prefer to have a surgical procedure which has inherent and known dangers, not to mention the as yet not so well known knock-on side effects (bacterial overgrowth, etc), instead of getting your mind around eating a bit less? I just hope that this survey, for whatever reason, did not gather their information from a "true" cross-section of women living in the UK. Sadly, I suspect that it does provide a fairly accurate picture of the quick-fix, image driven culture that we have become.

What's happened to the understanding that real beauty comes from within? What's happened to our principles and values and self-esteem? Do we as a nation have such a low level of self-esteem and self-worth that we would risk our health to look a different shape or size?

Surely we should put our health first, and lose weight for reasons of good health, and not for superficial image? We won't make an effort ourselves to lose weight, but we will risk our health and well-being to do so; that's ridiculous!

I even read an article the other day saying that an incentive of being paid a few pounds for losing pounds in weight has a more successful effect upon weight loss than some traditional diet plans. Again, how come money is more important to us than our health? Have so many people really lost their values and lost their way?

Low self-esteem and low self-worth lie at the heart of the growing issue of obesity in the UK (and America). If you really valued yourself, and had a balanced view of what is most important to you and the world in general, you would be able to get your mind around weight loss; you would be able to approach weight loss in a healthy and positive manner and lose weight naturally, without risking your health or expecting the NHS to pay for it.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3s for weight loss and building self-esteem.

P.S. Would you like to know how hypnosis empowers your mind? Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.