To think that it is not particularly healthy to "promote" being plus size?

[MaterTheGreater]

I'm sure this discussion's been done, so no yawns please, but on Radio 2 this afternoon they were talking about the story in the news that 1 in 4 items sold in women's clothing are a size 18 or over.

They were saying that this was great and that Adele was a great role model for women.

Now I agree that they shouldn't be sending size zero models down the catwalk, and I think it's great that some designers are using something like a size 14, but I really don't think it's in any woman's best interest to think that a size 18 is a good thing.

I love Adele - she has an amazing voice, and comes across as a lovely girl, but she is definitely "overweight", and healthwise that can never be a good thing.

I know that obviously if you are taller with a bigger frame, then you need a bigger size, but I think even at 5'11" (which a good friend of mine is), an 18 would still be overweight.

I am 5'8" and a size 18 on the top half and 16 on the bottom and I am totally miserable. I am constantly worried about my health and the effect that my weight has on it. I am currently trying to shed the pounds, which is hard, but I really do not want to be this size - it's disgusting and unhealthy and I hate all the "big is beautiful" bollocks.

YANBU.
I find it very odd that between all the stick thin ideal and the defence of big women we rarely see 'average' anymore in the media. Healthy is beautiful and I do not agree that big is healthy. It just can't be.

The best thing for everybody's health is to be comfortable in their own skin. I'm really sorry you hate your body. I am a size 22 and I do not regard myself as disgusting or unhealthy.
What I hate is all the 'fat people are lazy/unhealthy/disgusting' bollocks.

I have no idea whether you're being unreasonable about your post or not.

I do know that being so negative about yourself is extremely unhealthy - your bottom half is the nations average and your top half is one size larger yet you say you are 'miserable' and 'disgusting'.

You do not deserve this vitriol or negativity and I suggest you turn yourself to making yourself feel good and nurturing yourself rather than thinking you will suddenly be amazingly happy when you lose some weight - focus on who you are now not some mythical point in the future

It's possible to be big and healthy. It's also possible to be thin and very unhealthy (if you keep your weight down by skipping meals, smoking and taking stimulant drugs and don;'t exercise, you will not be as healthy as someone twice your size who eats fresh unprocessed food and exercises regularly).
Being happy in your own skin is far healthier than hating yourself because of what a lot of idiot mundanes tell you about the size and shape you ought to be.

You have however the highest chance of being healthy at a bmi of 20 -25 though surely?

"it's disgusting"

No it isn't! Perhaps in your eyes you are but I don't expect many people see you like that! And as for unhealthy - it depends on so many other factors.

Exactly pommedeterre.

My BMI is 30 which is classed as obese.

I am not miserable in general, but I am miserable about my weight, as I find I get out of breath more easily and don't feel nice about how I look.

It is a medical fact that there is a serious threat of heart disease, and a higher risk of cancer and diabetes at this weight.

Why would I feel happy about that?

Why would anyone think it was ok to promote that?

We don't promote smoking for those very reasons.

Do you feel negative about your body because you are actually an unhealthy weight, or just because you dont feel you are a 'fashionable' weight? It's not clear from your post which you are. It doesn't matter whether you are "the nation's average" or thereabouts - you are not an average person, you are you. A healthy weight is a totally individual thing. The average size and weight may be too heavy (or too light) for you - it all depends on your build. I am not particularly tall and tend towards being slimmish (but certainly not what you would call a 'fashion weight' or thin), so if I was a size 16 on my bottom half it would be too big for me. Equally I have a much taller friend who is healthy at a size 16.

I think that big can be beautiful - tall strapping women can look great even if they aren't supermodel skinny. But agree that what should be promoted is health. Being very overweight (or, for that matter, very underweight) is not healthy - it can cause all kinds of problems.

Re the Adele thing, I don't see that a person's weight makes then a good (or bad) role model - surely that's more of a personality based thing?

x post

ZombiePlan - because I am an unhealthy weight. For the reasons set out above.

Agree re the Adele thing - I was just conveying the way that they came across on the radio, that she was a "great role model for promoting plus size"

When I put on two stone taking me up to a size 16 I couldn't even walk far because my back killed me. After dropping just a stone the back pain went.

I've now lost two stone and have a stone to go.

I don't think it is possible to be big and healthy, when I was two stone heavier I couldn't even see my toes and had a fat back, it was horrible.

Those who are overweight have a higher risk of heart disease.

It takes time to lose weight but if you have the will power I would urge any one to drop the excess weight, Ive no double chin now, I'm almost pretty again. Thank god.

I agree,and as someone who has been a size 18 and struggles with her weight, I think we do too much "big is beautiful". I don't think you could be a size 22 plus and have a healthy BMI.

And don't give me "loads of rugby players/athletes have high BMI. They are.mostly men, and very few women can have a BMI of 25 plus and be healthy.

God...noone made this much of a deal about Alison Moyet in her day. Adele is a singer - she isn't promoting a way of life she is selling us music.

I read something by a designer of knitting patterns who gets slated for not working out the numbers for anything bigger than a 'L'. Her take on it was that it isn't responsible, in a social context, to encourage and support sizes bigger than that, as it sends a message opposite to the traditional one of good food in moderation, plenty of exercise, and try to keep your body smaller rather than larger for health reasons.

I thought that was pretty extreme and amounted to thinly veiled disgust rather than actual caring about the way our health is going as a society. However I see my mother getting larger and being delighted that she can now overeat and do no exercise (in her case, not saying everyone is thinking like her) because there are more, nicer clothes than there used to be and little stigma around being large.

So I don't know, I think it's very complicated.

FabbyChic - I also have back pain in addition to all my other "worries".

I have so much fat around my middle that it truly is disgusting in my eyes.

I too would be interested in hearing if anyone on here is a size 18 or over with a BMI of 25 or under.

By the way, I am not having a go at Adele. I think she is great and love her music - just picked up on what was said in the media.

There is some debate as to whether being a bit overweight as opposed to obese is unhealthy anyway. BMI isn't a particularly good guide on its own.

I don't want to see people bullied or victimised for being overweight or obese though - I was the teeniest bit overweight at school and was called thunder thighs, elephant etc every day - by a group of boys in my classes. This just made me eat more!

I don't want to see obesity promoted any more than I want to see underweight, skeletal frames promoted. I just wish people would stop judging others on their weight generally though. I liked Adele because of her music and voice - I had not much idea (other than her face) what she looked like until recently. In fact I don't know what a lot of musicians I listen to look like unless there is a little image of them on iTunes. I don't watch music videos generally.

I agree with those who have said it is about being healthy.

When I used to smoke, if I went to the GP they would always ask you how many you smoked and if you were thinking of cutting down etc.

No GP has ever even commented about my weight. Even when I bring it up myself. It's like they're scared of offending you.

I really won't be offended if they give me advice on how to be more healthy.

I'm 5'8", just under 12 stone, and my BMI is around 25. I'm a 14. I can't imagine being an 18 and having the same BMI.

Someone downthread said something about not being healthy over a size 22. It's interesting how people's perceptions vary. My mother would say the same. The fact is that with the amount of body fat that I have (I can see it dimpling all over my body, and I have quite a sturdy frame, I'm no willowy sort) I am unhealthy and I feel it.

It should be about what is healthy for you. I was very active and for me - very underweight - at uni, which caused health problems. But according to my BMI I was fine. The BMI is rubbish. No-one is an average person and you cannot compare yourself to averages or other people. You know if you are healthy and happy, and if not it is up to you to do something about it.

I think that your waist to hip ratio is a more important factor to consider than your bmi, which is only accurate if you are a standard bone density and skeletal size couch potato with no muscle mass. That is pretty much verbatim from my doctor.

To have a bmi under 25 and be a size 18 you'd have to be about 8ft tall I reckon!

There's nothing disgusting about being a size 18, if you feel that way then that's your issue unfortunately. I can say that as a size 16/18 myself. I am fit and healthy - my blood pressure is fantastic, my resting heart rate is the same but that's down to the amount of exercise I have always done in the past and do now. I don't eat an unhealthy diet, I am very careful about the contents of what we do eat.

I think Adele is a great role model for anyone, whatever their size! She had a dream and has followed it regardless of what anyone has said or published in the media about her weight. THAT is something to be positive about - hard work, dedication and the desire to achieve your goals.

This 'national average size' thing irritates me, because it perpetuates this in a way. Our 'national average' size may well be 16. What that means is that there are a hell of a lot of obese people in this country, who are bringing the average up. Just because a size 16 is the national average, that doesn't mean that it's necessarily a healthy size to be, nor something to be admired or aspired to.

Exactly Prunnhilda - I am the same height as you and I am 14st 3lb, BMI 30 and size 18.

My friend who is 5'11" has a BMI of 26 and is a size 14, so if she was an 18, even though she is tall, she would still be overweight.

FWIW I felt overweight and unhealthy at 12 stone - my ideal weight is about 10st 7lb which is a BMI of about 23. This is when I physically felt the best, without having to skip meals or eat like a rabbit.

YANBU but plus-size catwalk models tend to be about a 10-12, which is only plus size compared to size 0

No matter what you look like, if you get over a certain weight you are putting unnecessary strain on your bones, even if the rest of you is healthy. It might not show in the short term, but joints will wear out long-term because they just aren't built to take that kind of pressure

What TobyLerone said.