Anthea Turner - fat shaming and disablist (covid)

[FTMF30]

So Anthea Turner has felt the wrath of pretty much everyone for her recent Tweet. Very silly of her, being someone in the public eye.

I felt she was trying to make a valid point but failed terribly with that offensive cartoon. And what did she mean with the caption "Go for it"?
www.google.com/amp/s/www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/anthea-turner-twitter-fat-shaming-covid-face-mask-b919526.html%3famp

@Yazoop

We’re not the second most obese nation in the world. Someone above has posted the actual statistics and we are 36th. That’s not to say it isn’t a problem - it is - but the hyperbole on here is crazy.

And AT’s image implies that healthy, slim people shouldn’t have to wear masks to protect unhealthy people (implying that’s of their own making). So essentially that some lives are worth more than others. In a pandemic you don’t treat health as a moral issue - that’s a very dangerous path. This all seems to be backing up an anti-mask point of view that is beyond selfish. I just don’t understand how wearing a mask is so terrible to some people that they are willing to imply that others are “not worthy” of being protected from transmission.

I agree with this. We should wear masks to protect everyone. Also agree that people need to take accountability for their own health though too.

@gottakeeponmovin why did you let yourself get overweight in the first place?

As someone on another thread pointed out...we’d have done better to cordon off all the junk food in supermarkets rather than the clothing aisles.

Junk food is non essential, especially given the circumstances.

And the further point of the cartoon for me is that we are trying desperately to get out of lockdown, and I keep hearing that the number of people in ICU may still be a problem. The people in ICU are 50/60 year olds apparently, some will be legitimately CEV are completely to be expected, but also are people who have lifestyle issues which could have been completely reversible in the last year, many of them obesity related...type 2 diabetes and hypertension as the main ones.

That is the reason the cartoon hits something. It’s harsh but the point is relevant....how long can people expect others to look out for my health when I don’t even do it myself?

50/60 year olds are the oldest age group who haven't had the vaccine and are less able to shield than pensioners as still working so not surprising they are in ICU. Hopefully the vaccine should reach them soon and start to lower the rates

@FusionChefGeoff

Is the fat lady in a wheelchair or just sitting down??

It very much looks like a wheelchair. Very few chairs out and about have arm rests with drinks holders.

@Sportsnight

Why are we all acting like it matters what Anthea Turner thinks?

This.

She’s entitled to say what she wants of course, and needing to tackle the obesity crisis is a fair point - but as any expert knows fat shaming will do nothing to achieve that. But she is not an expert she’s an ex-TV presenter, so who cares...

Noticed the comments of PP above that ITU nurse friend is seeing a lot of young overweight patients. I’ve seen comments like this on MN a few times, but they are contradictory to what the medics I know working in this area (one of whom runs a big London ITU) say, which is there is a noticeable increase of men in their 40s this time - not dying but having a rough time - but Middle aged women and the under 40s are very rare, and under 30s non-existent, whatever their weight. Their view is obesity increases risk of course but Covid mortality is primarily about age.

It could of course be different experiences in different units, but I have wondered if this line on MN is a tweaking of the truth to drive an agenda.

People talk about how we used to be slim in the good old days but we smoked a lot more then which wasn't great either!

@StillMedusa

An ICU nurse I know.. working with ventilated Covid patients said to my DD (her friend) last week that without exception, every patient they have is overweight..and most are severely overweight.. including people in their 30s and even younger. She said it has been the most shocking factor of the second wave.. it's not the CEV, or the diabetic (tho many are type 2)... its the fat people who are dying :(

If it doesn't give the UK the kick up the bum it needs to tackle obesity, nothing will.

^^ People eat too much, we eat more than we need to survive. Eating too much makes you fat, if your fat you can’t be bothered to exercise. If you add alcohol consumption and smoking to that it’s a recipe for disaster, cancer, hospitalisation, premature death. All costs the NHS money. I think she has a point! Albeit clumsy delivery. “Don’t give me covid, I’m doing a perfectly good job of killing myself anyway”.

Obesity now kills more people than smoking 🤷‍♀️

The government need to bloody well sort out the obesity crisis in the UK. No more softly softly, don't want to piss people off, approach.

Tax the fuck out of sugar and any products that contain it. No more share bags or multipacks of chocolate and crisps. Shops should only be able to sell individual chocolate bars, packets of crisps, cakes etc at an expensive price and no special offers. I find it really hard to resist chocolate but I know that if an individual bar cost £1.50 and I couldn't get a multipack on offer for £2 then I simply couldn't afford to eat as much as I do. Just like I had to quit smoking because I couldn't afford to do it any more. Restaurants and fast food should have strict calorie limits on meals and drinks, and no special offers on extras. It's fine to do this with tobacco products but not with high calorie food products, why?

Government would get loads of money from the high tax on sugar and calorific foods and save a fuck ton of money on the NHS, win win. They could spend some of that money on subsidising healthy food to make it cheaper for all and free cookery classes for people who don't feel confident in putting healthy meals together. Calorie restrictions on meals out might make people realise what a sensible portion is as well. A large meal at mcdonald's or one of those box meals at kfc is far too much food for one person in one sitting. If they just didn't exist and people could only buy sensible portions of food then it might completely change perceptions of portion sizes.

I am slightly overweight. I bloody love chocolate and ice cream and cake and basically anything with sugar in it. I eat WAY too much sugar. I know that the way I want to eat could make me obese so I try to control it, I eat healthy meals and I walk or run at least 5k most days. I know people that were overweight/obese at the start of the pandemic and have actually gained weight since then. They "can't be arsed" to go for a walk and have used the excuse of lockdown to order multiple takeaways every week. But they shriek that people not wearing masks and breaking rules are putting a strain on the NHS and I'm just 🤯 they don't even realise their own hypocrisy.

Their view is obesity increases risk of course but Covid mortality is primarily about age.

Of course that is true. But there’s not much we can do about ageing...whereas obesity...

@wowier I was pregnant and I ate too much and didn't exercise enough. When I gave birth I thought it would drop off it didn't. So same reason most people let themselves get over weight - too many calories not enough exercise. Problem is whilst people are pretending that it's not their fault they will never deal with it

When my ds first went to nursery they had sugary deserts every day. She was only 1. I said I wanted fruit as an alternative ( still has sugars but better than a sugarfest pud) I was asked every month to reconsider, told he felt left out, was upset etc. They looked at me like I was mad. I encountered that a few times in different nurseries. Why start the sugar addiction at 1??

Obesity now kills more people than smoking

smoking has declined by about 2/3s since the 40s but i think it's still the biggest cause of cancer.

Desserts

**Which twat opened the portal to 1997 and released Anthea bloody Turner back into our lives?
Brilliant!

@wowier you just seem to be in total denial of the issues obesity causes with or without covid. Every time someone posts you come back with something. It's irrelevant if smoking has declined. Wasting too much and getting fat kills people. There are too many obese people in the U.K. you have a responsibility to take control of what you put in your mouth End of

@gottakeeponmovin but were you not aware of the dangers of being unhealthy when pregnant?

Eating not wasting

@wowier yes of course. I was a size 8 when I got pregnant and a size 14 when I gave birth. Not hugely overweight but overweight all the same. It happens gradually and you almost don't notice it. I dealt with it, I am back to a size 10 now through first and exercise which took effort. I don't really think this is about me

you just seem to be in total denial of the issues obesity causes with or without covid.

How am I in denial? because I don't agree with you?
I'm fully aware & have said that obesity is a problem, I just think we need a better approach to tackling the issue.

Every time someone posts you come back with something

That's usually how these things work, no?

@gottakeeponmovin I think it's interesting that you are judging others for being overweight & lambasting them for not being aware of the dangers but you yourself were aware of the dangers of too much weight in pregnancy but it still crept on.

I've never been overweight & only put on the recommended amount in pregnancy. It doesn't make me morally superior to you though.

@wowier I dealt with the issue. I put on weight when I was pregnant as many do, and I dealt with it. This is about people not losing weight, or denying it's their responsibility that they put it on. I ate too much for a short period of time and I took on a programme of diet and exercise to get back to a good weight. That is not what this thread is about, and to be honest even at a size 14 I think the risks to my health over a 9 month period were pretty low. Certainly neither midwives or doctors ever raised any concerns about risks to the health of myself or my baby during that time. I think you are clutching at straws here - but that seems to be what you have done the whole way through the thread. Picking on me about personal weight gain during pregnancy does not change the fact that a third of the population is obese

Whenever there is a thread on obesity, the amount of normalising that goes on about being overweight far outweighs any so called fat shaming comments. The vast majority of people who are overweight are overweight because of unhealthy habits. There is a small percentage who have medical issues (including mental health) and medication side effects.

A lot of overweight people want their size normalised so that taking no personal responsibility for their health is excused and they can carry on eating in an unhealthy way because they don't stand out. They want the thinner people to be the odd ones out. One of the posters below said something about why should we listen to skinny/scrawny celebrities. Anthea Turner (can't stand her, not a fan) is a healthy size, that's what healthy looks like but we have chosen to forget that.

Exercising is good for fitness, but not being able to exercise is in itself not an excuse for being overweight. Primarily it is calories in. All those cliches like you can't un run your fork, or abs start in the kitchen are a pithy way of saying you are what you eat. If it is within your gift to do the best for your body, you should do it. There are lots of people for whatever reason, are bedridden, disabled, etc who would like the opportunity genuinely improve their health but can't. For the vast majority of overweight people, that isn't the case.

I’m offended. As an overweight disabled person this makes me angry. I was always very very slim ( healthy apparently) and because of disability am now overweight (unhealthy apparently). I exercise and have a good diet but through no fault of my own I can’t loose the weight. I’ve been looking at mobility scooters lately. But this kind of attitude really makes me worry if I were to use one. I would be seen as fat and lazy so I got a scooter. Not disabled and unable to maintain a ‘lower’ weight. And sometimes I eat McDonald’s too. I get it’s just a take on the whole situation. But it’s slamming people who are overweight BECAUSE of disability. It’s really very unfair.