Only 10 per cent of women are totally happy with their bodies, and 66 per cent believe slim women climb the career ladder quicker, according to WHO magazine's startling new body survey. Also, more than 75 per cent would prefer to be smaller rather than bigger, and more than half have tried slimming pills for a quick fix. Only 10 per cent are happy with their body.

WHO readers confessed in a recent online poll to the following:

• 54% have worried about their weight since they were teenagers. One in four started worrying after they had children.

• 54% want to lose weight as they are "fed up feeling fat". One in five want to slim for fashion reasons.

• 62% think a better body would drastically improve their lives.

• 57% said the body part they'd like to change is their stomach.

• Almost one third would be willing to pay $10,000 to get a better body.

WHO editor Nicky Briger says, "We were shocked by some of the results from our online poll on body image, diet and exercise - many Australian women see their bodies as the enemy. So we created a special report featuring key Australian stars showing off their real bodies to advocate the importance of learning to love your body. Those who participated - Ricki-Lee Coulter, Kate Ritchie, Antonia Kidman, Toni Pearen, Megan Gale, Sarah Murdoch, Jade Macrae and Erika Heynatz - are all firm believers that nothing beats confidence and working with what you've got."

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For this survey, 554 women responded to a who.com poll about body image, diet and exercise. Readers were evenly distributed over age groups; 76 per cent were aged between 25 and 49.