LONDON, January 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Weight Watchers® New Approach to Weight Loss

These days we live in a world full of tempting, tasty food everywhere we turn. New research from Weight Watchers reveals that it's this overloaded food environment that causes us to overeat- it's not just about lack of willpower! Coupled with this, is the breakthrough science of 'hedonic hunger', which proves that sensory exposure to these hard to resist foods - even just thinking about them - creates a physical 'urge to eat', regardless of whether you've just eaten, encouraging us to give way to temptation.

From browsing for breakfast cereals in our kitchen cupboards to grabbing a coffee on the go or piling on the pasta at dinner, we make an average of 200 food decisions every day. Around 90% of these decisions are unconscious - we don't even notice them. Find out more about the overloaded environment and temptation triggers with this Weight Watchers infographic.

These food decisions are especially challenging for the residents of the Twenty Toxic Cities in the UK. Research from Weight Watchers has revealed Manchester to be the most toxic city, in a leaderboard based on the highest level of fast food outlets in 2012 for the population density*.

                                No. of people per
                                fast food outlet*
    Most Toxic Cities in the UK in 2012

    1. Manchester               492
    2. Bristol                  623
    3. Edinburgh                725
    4. Brighton                 768
    5. London                   830
    6. Glasgow                  921
    7. Liverpool                1,002
    8. Leicester                1,081
    9. Newcastle upon Tyne      1,146
    10. Leeds                   1,148
    11. Sheffield               1,293
    12. Cardiff                 1,366
    13. Hull                    1,485
    14. Nottingham              1,749
    15. Belfast                 1,854
    16. Birmingham              2,255
    17. Wakefield               2,508
    18. Coventry                2,798
    19. Sunderland              3,146
    20. Bradford                4,477

Today, Weight Watchers will be helping its members tackle the issue head on, by launching a brand new approach to its highly successful ProPoints plan.

Zoe Hellman, Head of Public Health, Weight Watchers explains the new approach... "Our new approach ProPoints  plan gives you practical, realistic and simple solutions to create an environment that works for your weight loss, not against it, reducing the need for willpower."

Weight Watchers New Approach offers members the tools and tactics to help them reclaim control of their environments and weight. It combines the very best of the tried and tested ProPoints plan with a new focus on the impact of your surroundings and how to make them work for, not against, your weight loss.

These include Places and Routines, two brand-new, exciting tools on the Weight Watchers website that have been developed to help you reclaim control of your overloaded food environment, and easily build healthy habits into your daily life. To find out more about Places and Routines just visit the Weight Watchers website.

Notes to Editors

The Weight Watchers ProPoints plan takes all the best nutritional science from around the world to provide members with a simple to learn, flexible counting system that helps guide people towards healthier more satisfying food choices. Weight Watchers is the first organisation to offer a better, more accurate and flexible weight management formula than the outdated method of calorie counting.

*Chart has been based on a criteria of the highest level of fast food outlets* for the population density and features the UK's 20 highest populated UK cities.

*Café and tearooms, Coffee shops, Fast food takeaways, Fish and chips shops, Indian takeaway, Take away food shops. Data from The Local Data Company

For more information on Weight Watchers visit http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk

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Please contact the Weight Watchers Press Office Team for more information and images:

Lucy Tinley: +44-(0)1628-415-216, ltinley@weight-watchers.co.uk

Catrin Hollely: +44-(0)1628-415-267, chollely@weight-watchers.co.uk