Weight Watchers

Jean Nidetch was a professional dieter, a housewife who tried every conceivable .slimming fad, lost weight with each one, then regained it thanks to her habitually "promiscuous?eating habits. In 1961, when she sought help from the obesity clinic run by New York City's Dept. of Health, she was 38 years old and weighed 214 lb. The clinic put her on a diet by Dr. Norman Jolliffe, best known.for his "prudent diet". Convinced that she couldn't stick to it alone, Mrs.

Nidetch invited some fat friends to form a group and meet weekly to made horror stories (secret midnight binging in the bathroom) and helpful hints(put that doughnut in the freezer to cool temptation). Established in 1963, Weight Watchers expanded into an international network of clubs, with a product line of diet drinks, sugar substitutes,and publications-the McDonald's of the reducing industry. "My little private club has become an industry," wrote Mrs. Nidetch, amateur nutritionist, in The Story of Weight Watchers (1975). In 1978 the oiganization, with about $ 50 million in annual revenues and a cumulative membership of close to 2 million, was bought by Heinz Foods.