"One third of western European consumers are now overweight, and by 2006 this will increase to almost half," Datamonitor analyst Andrew Russell said in the report.

Although obesity is a burgeoning problem across the continent, the issue is particularly serious in Germany, Italy and Spain, where over half of the population is medically overweight. A relatively slim tally of 40% of the British and French are overweight. But it's not just a matter of getting out of the bulge bracket.

As Europe's consumers become gradually heavier, the producers of low-calorie meals, miracle weight-loss milkshake-type drinks and cholesterol-reducing spreads are promoting "shape management" in addition to the traditional holy grail of weight loss. "Consumer awareness of the importance of exercise and good diet has increased in recent years. This is due to heightened marketing of professional gyms, diet programmes and exercise techniques," Russell said.

One third of the consumers in the study felt there was such a thing as an "ideal body" and two-thirds thought most other people believed in this concept, but Russell pointed out that this interest "did not always translate into long-term lifestyle changes". Most health club managers in Europe will attest to this

The dietary products market has shown steady expansion for years. Datamonitor cites a compound annual growth rate of 2.3% for the seven countries between 1996 and 2001, with Italy leading the pack at 3.7%.

But it's Germany with its national passion for beer and sausages where the slimming market is largest. Germans bought 19.3 billion euros worth of diet products last year, compared with 15.2 billion euros in Britain and 13.2 billion in France.

Altogether this makes for a European market worth a staggering 92.5 billion euros last year, Datamonitor said, projecting a rise to 96 billion by 2006.

Perhaps unexpectedly, it's people of "normal" weight who are most likely to take action to change their shape, while overweight people show greater reluctance to abstain from the pies and take to the gym.

"The attitude of most overweight consumers is that a good body, however much they might desire it, is not worth the effort it would take to achieve in terms of serious lifestyle changes such as more hard exercise and fewer indulgences," Datamonitor said.