London, Oct 16 : A new survey has shown that more and more British women are turning cocaine dieters, with one in seven using drugs such as cocaine or speed in an attempt to lose weight.

The study also found that many others took slimming pills or laxatives in a desperate effort to shed the pounds.

Thirty seven per cent had taken slimming pills, 15 per cent had taken speed or cocaine and 26 per cent had used laxatives as slimming aids, the poll found.

However, experts said that women were risking their health by using drugs to get thin. They warned the glamorous image of cocaine covered health risks such as heart attacks and strokes.

"There is no evidence that they have any long-term effect on weight but a great deal of evidence that they are harmful to health. The only long-term solution to weight control is lifestyle changes, including dietary modification and more exercise. There is no substitute for effort,” the Daily Mail quoted Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of Weight Concern, as saying.

The poll, commissioned by celebrity magazine ‘Now,’ revealed that three-quarters chose 'faddy' crash diets, with many feeling sick because of them, and two-thirds feared they had lost the ability to eat normally.

Three out of four women said they spent their lives 'snacking' while two thirds starved themselves before a big night out.

However, the report said that both drug-taking and drastic dieting were mostly fruitless, with many women regaining any weight they may have lost within weeks or even days.

Women were also ready to shell out on average 11,000 pounds for a better body, with one in ten saying they would have an operation to fit a gastric band to control their eating. A third of women said they would sacrifice sex to be slim for ever.

"Women today have a shocking relationship with food and are living a binge/purge lifestyle. Sadly this survey shows once a woman starts on the path of fast faddy diets they become her companion until the day she dies,” Now's editor Helen Johnston said.

"Body image is the female curse of the 21st century. Whatever a woman's achievements in life, her whole self-image is totally bound up in her body shape,” she added. (ANI)