SAR dieters are being warned not to take advice from Internet weight-loss centres, after an international study found many give shoddy - and in some cases dangerous - advice.
Several online diet 'experts' failed to tell a dangerously obese man that his weight was threatening his health, and others prescribed a low-calorie diet to a woman bordering on anorexia.
'Dieting is a serious business but judging by the services we looked at, it's clearly not being taken seriously by many diet sites,' said a spokesman for the British Consumers' Association, which examined 10 weight-loss Web sites, most based in the United States.
'We've found that some companies see the 'www' tag as a green light to offer poor and sometimes dangerous advice.'
The association found 36 Web sites offering weight-loss programmes and diet supplements, and examined 10 to assess the quality of advice given and value for money. Joining up to the sites cost between $80 and $460.
Seven of the 10 failed the association's test.
To test the sites, two fictitious dieters were signed up. Molly, 22, was an office worker whose weight was at the low end of the healthy scale. She exercised for three hours a day and had problems with food, indicating she was anorexic.
