Skinny WAGs biggest turn off for dieters

London, May 5 (ANI): Super-slim celebrities like Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole are now so thin that their appearance is actually having an adverse effect on dieters, according to a new research.

Rather than encourage women to lose weight, they actually demotivate ladies.

Dieters say looking at pictures of such slim celebrities puts them off their healthy eating plans as they feel they will never attain such unrealistic figures.

The study also found that the vast majority of women prefer to look closer to home for inspiration.

Female dieters are five times more likely to dig out an old picture of themselves when they were slimmer if they need inspiration to lose weight, rather than stare at an air-brushed image of a celebrity in a glossy magazine or online.

Two thirds told researchers they were inspired to lose weight after seeing an image of themselves slimmer, while just 12 percent said a picture of a skinny celebrity helped spur them on.

Former Spice Girl Victoria was the dieter that women loved to hate the most, with a quarter saying they dreaded seeing pictures of the mother-of-four's fragile frame.

Cheryl Cole was next on the hit list, as a fifth said looking at pictures of the Geordie pop star or watching her perform on stage in barely-there costumes made them feel less motivated to lose weight.

One in ten revealed how images of the newly skinny WAG Abbey Crouch were the ones most likely to put them off their diet.

Other super slim celebrities that came in for a bashing included, the Duchess of Cambridge, Angelina Jolie and Rihanna.

Meanwhile, 90 percent of women insisted they did not believe celebrity dieters when they said they were able to eat whatever they liked.

The New Atkins Diet commissioned the survey of 2,000 women across the UK.

Speaking about the results of the study, Linda O'Byrne, chief nutritionist for the New Atkins Diet, said that it proved that women do not respond to celebrity images

"For the first time we are able to prove that most women do not respond to glossy, air-brushed images of super skinny celebrities," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

Celebs Dieters Hate:

1. Victoria Beckham

2. Cheryl Cole

3. Abbey Crouch

4. Gwyneth Paltrow

5. Jennifer Aniston

6. Angelina Jolie

7. Duchess of Cambridge

8. Rihanna

9. Twiggy

10. Helen Mirren

"In fact women are saying that these images are the least effective way to inspire them to slim down, as it simply makes them feel less satisfied with their own body and less motivated to lose weight and get in shape," she said.

"People know the glitz and the glamour of celebrity life is not the real world, where what you see is not necessarily what you get. So where better to turn to for inspiration than youself, this can often be the best motivation ever," she said. (ANI)