About 40 per cent of the people think food is the main cause of obesity, says a Synovate study.
 
The global survey found that 20 per cent chose 'unhealthy food choices' and another 20 per cent chose 'unhealthy food habits like eating at irregular hours' as the cause for obesity.  A further 18 per cent said it was 'lack of exercise', 13 per cent blamed the individual (no self-discipline) and 11 per cent said 'genetics'.

People in the UK (21 per cent) and US (20 per cent), two of the nations with the biggest issues, are most likely to nominate 'no self-discipline' as the leading factor in obesity.

Britain is the nation most addicted to fast food, according to the study.

When asked to agree or disagree with the statement: 'I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up', the most addicted nation was the United Kingdom, with 45 per cent agreeing, said the study.

'Britons love their fish and chips, but only beat the Americans to the punch on fast food addiction by a small margin of one percent.  A hefty 44 per cent of Americans cannot give up burgers, pizza and wings, with the next most addicted nation Canada at 37 per cent,' Garton said.

The highest disagrees were France (81 per cent), Singapore (75 per cent) and Hong Kong and Romania (both 73 per cent). The Saudis disagreed on this statement with 67 per cent and the UAE with 60 per cent.

Pailleux said the French are clearly very concerned about weight but their issues have not arisen due to fast food.

'We are more concerned about our traditional high-fat cooking techniques and rich ingredients.  This is not something we are going to give up easily... sharing classic food and time with loved ones is key to the French sensibility.  However, there is also an element of not wanting to admit that fast food has a place in our lives,' he said.

Synovate said the data that shows that across the world people have conflicting attitudes and behaviours when it comes to managing their weight. 

Synovate's global head of media, Steve Garton, said these conflicts can be seen across cultures as well as within individuals.

'People are inherently contradictory and nowhere is it more obvious than on such a sensitive and important issue as their weight.  The results show there's a world of people who cannot deny themselves that hamburger or extra piece of pizza, but probably make themselves feel better by washing it down with a diet cola.'

'On one hand, more than half of all respondents (54 per cent) agreed that they eat whatever they want, whenever they want.  On the other hand, more than two thirds say 'I watch my food intake carefully and strive to be healthy' which rather flies in the face of the first claim.  This is the crux of food issues across the globe.  People are torn by food as fuel versus food as pleasure,' he said.

The findings come from a global survey that looked at weight management among more than 9,000 respondents across 13 countries on five continents - United Kingdom, France, Czech Republic, Romania, United States, Canada, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.

Off-the-scale behaviour

Fifteen percent of French people and 12 per cent of Americans weigh themselves every single day, while at the other end of the spectrum only 15 per cent of Hong Kongers get on the scales once or more every week.

'We wanted to see whether people were habitually thinking about their weight and monitoring it,' Garton said.

Around a third of all respondents are regular scale-dwellers, while one in five people never weigh themselves.  Half of all Americans and the French check their weight once a week or more and the Singaporeans are the least weight-obsessed with 37 per cent never getting on the scales.

Thierry Pailleux, Synovate's managing dir