Jean Nidetch, the New York housewife who tackled her own obesity problem and later founded Weight Watchers, has died. She was 91.
She died on Wednesday at her home near Fort Lauderdale, her son, David Nidetch, said.
Nidetch had been plagued by a weight problem since childhood and had tried all manner of fad diets, pills and treatments in failed efforts to slim down.
She was carrying 97kgs on her 170cm frame when she went to an obesity clinic sponsored by the New York City Board of Health in 1961 and began picking up the tips that slowly seemed to work.
She took off nearly 1kg in the first week but disliked the way the clinic's leader imparted information and how little the obesity group's members shared. So she gathered six overweight friends in her Queens living room to share what she'd learned and talk about their own food compulsions.
As the weekly meetings at her home grew to include dozens of people, two of them - Felice and Al Lippert - convinced Nidetch she had the makings of a business. Weight Watchers International was founded in 1963.
By the following year, classes were being held across New York, with dozens of participants going on to lead sessions of their own. Franchises were opened, a cookbook sold millions and by 1968, the company went public with adherents across the globe.
In 1978 Weight Watchers was sold to the Heinz Co for $US71 million ($A88.52 million). Even after she retired, Nidetch was known as the first lady of Weight Watchers International.
