New Year's resolution to lose weight may ruin friendships

London: New Year's resolution to lose weight may result in dire consequences when it comes to friendships, researchers say.

Researchers insist that those who successfully drop a dress size make others so jealous that it could spoil personal relationships, the Daily Mail reported.

According to the study, a third of women admitted to being secretly envious of friends who lose weight with a sixth keenly wishing that their friends were fatter than them.

And more than a fifth of those surveyed said they were generally happier in life when they were slimmer than their friends.

The research suggested that even if a person wishes best for his or her friends, many of them simply couldn't help feeling resentful.

And in certain cases, the jealousy is so strong that people go out of their way to encourage their friends to look worse than us.

One in ten respondents confessed that they would tell their friends they look slim even when they do not, probably to discourage them from dieting.

And a third of those aged 16 and 17 admitted that they often 'tag' their friends in unappealing photos on Facebook.

The survey of 10,000 adults, conducted by weight-loss treatment BioAPP, also showed that 93 per cent women do not think they would have more friends if they were slimmer.

And over 40 per cent of 16- to 17-year-olds said that they have been on a diet to avoid being seen as the 'fat friend'.