(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-19 09:09

LONDON - This is the day that many New Year dieting resolutions run out of steam in Britain, a survey shows, despite a trend towards longer-term dieting as opposed to celebrity-inspired quick fixes.

Weight-loss plans advocated by A-listers -- such as the maple syrup, Atkins or cabbage soup diet -- are becoming less widely followed, with over a third of British dieters now seeing efforts to shed the pounds as an ongoing, permanent lifestyle change rather than an attempt to quickly shed extra pounds.

However, the poll of 3,292 British adults by insurer PruHealth also found that the average dieter sticks to a regime for only 78.6 days -- often from January 1 to March 18.

Over two thirds of British women (69 percent) planned to embark on a new diet or fitness regime at the start of the year, according to the survey.

Katie Roswell, marketing director at PruHealth, said: "It's encouraging to see a common move towards long-term healthy lifestyles, rather than people opting for more short-term fixes, such as unhealthy, fad diet plans.

"However, it's also clear how important it is to maintain momentum and motivation to stick to a permanent lifestyle change."