Jean nidetch biography summary

(1923-)
Weight Watchers International

Overview

Jean Nidetch was a five-foot-seven, 214-pound over-weight housewife and mother who had tried every diet and appetite suppressant pill she could find.

Then she realized that she could not stick to a diet without being able to talk to someone about it, so she invited six overweight friends to her apartment in Queens, New York. This was the informal beginning of Weight Watchers International, which became a billion-dollar business with franchises in more than 24 countries.

After selling the company to H.J. Heinz Co. in 1978, Nidetch continued on as a Weight Watchers spokesperson and later as a consultant.

Personal Life

Jean Nidetch was born Jean Slutsky in Brooklyn, New York on October 12, 1923.

Jean nidetch weight watchers

Her father, David Slut-sky, was a taxicab driver, and her mother Mae was a manicurist. Although Jean only weighed seven pounds, three ounces at birth, she soon became an overweight child. "I don't really remember, but I'm positi