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.

NorthernGobshite - that is not the way it was intended.

I know that bigger women need clothes - I need them myself.

I just don't think it is good practice to give people the message that it is "OK to be overweight".

It is not OK, it is very unhealthy.

I don't think that being unhealthy should be promoted - it's madness!

Hatesponge - who suggested that people over a size 14 are massively unhealthy?

No-one said that fat people are riddled with ailments - but being fat is a risk factor for all these things.

Let's just agree that it's not healthy to be morbidly obese, just as it's not healthy to be very underweight.

FWIW though, I think the reason that overweight and obese people are picked on more is because it's far more common for people to be obese than it is to be dangerously underweight. You only have to walk down your local town centre to see this.

I think as a nation we put our pop stars on pedestals. They are simply entertainers. They didn't ask to be role models. Adele is overweight yes, but she is a bloody good singer and a lovely person.

Kate Moss is thin and has been a coke snorting alcohol drinking ladette.

Is Kate a better role model just because she is thin?!

AS a nation we are so hung up on body image. I do not have a daughter, but realise just how tough it must be today to raise a girl with no body hang ups.

Kate's a dreadful role model!

Exactly!

So why do we call people good role models because of their weight?

Is Kate Winslet a good role model because she is 'curvy'? Or Jennifer Hudson because she was overweight and has slimmed down? Or Beth Ditto because she is very large but doesn't care?

I don't really worship anyone because of their body size. Do you?

Not at all. I don't buy all this role model crap anyway, like you said, they didn't ask to be role models.

I don't think BMI is foolproof but I think it's a good enough indicator for most people.

Waist to hip ratio, on the other hand, is a nonsense. Have you seen the shape of Paula Radcliffe, for example? You can't tell me she's storing excess body fat.

I have a straight-up-and-down shape. I have narrow hips and there's very little difference between my hip and waist measurement yet my BMI is below 25 and I am a size 8-10. 5' 3" and just under 9 stone. According to the 'apple shape' theory, I'm more likely to die of heart disease than someone far heavier than me with more fat, yet who happens to be a pear shape

That theory is supposed to refer to deep abdominal fat but there is no way of measuring such a thing by looking at someone or measuring their hips and waist.

I think the most accurate way to measure how much excess fat someone is carrying is by taking shed-loads of measurements with those caliper things. Not something most people have access to.

And in response to the OP, no I don't think it's healthy to promote being a 'plus size' and I think the 'Big is Beautiful' message does do this a little.

I believe an overweight or obese woman can be attractive and happy, I just don't believe she can be very healthy.

The discussion on the radio was that Adele was a great role model for big women.

The way it was said implied that it was great to have someone like Adele so that bigger women could understand that it was ok to be overweight.

It was nothing to do with her being a role model in general or for her success/personality.

Oh my, there are a lot of fattie bashers out there, aren't there!

I am a lazy, ugly, disgusting, worthless bloater. No one will ever love me, I will stay single for the rest of my life because I am too freaky to be worthy of love. I deserve to live out my misery, ostracised from normal society and lonely because I have no will power, I am pathetic! I hate myself, but I am too pathetic to change because I am WEAK! No one could love me. Look at all those lovely women on the TV. That's what I should look like. If you look like that you are worthy to be a woman. Not like me. I don't deserve to live on this planet. Everyone is laughing at me. And I am sooo pathetic. I give in. Eat too much. I am disgusting! My family is ashamed of me. My friends pity me. I must not let anyone know how I feel, because they will just sneer. I should be able to change. Good, worthy women have control.

This is the kind of thought that goes through my mind daily, several times a day.

The only time I get any relief from this is when I see another big woman who looks confident and beautiful. Then I think that maybe I am not just a disgusting waste of space.

Olifin - its been all over the news this week that the theory about apple shapes and greater risk of heart disease is a load of old baloney.

Hissymissy - sorry you feel that way.

I am just saying it, because I for one feel bad enough about myself without some smug git spouting patronising claptrap like "just eat less" etc...

I am sure I am not the only fattie who feels this way.

I really do not need someone else to give me another stick to beat myself with. I already have one with rusty nails on it. Thankyou very much!

Ahhhh...thank you bibbity I had missed that :)

Hissymissy That is a great shame :( Of course you are not a disgusting waste of space. You are a person with thoughts and feelings just like everyone else and you are as deserving of love as anyone else.

I think the majority of posters here are just trying to have a discussion about weight and health, not trying to make large people feel sh*t. If you want to lose weight or tone up, it can be done. However, if your self-esteem is very poor then it can be that much harder to work towards being healthier.

You know, none of us look like women off the telly, even those of us who are slim.

Well hissy, there will always be some people totally lacking in tact who think it is as easy as 'just eat less' but I think a lot of people actually have some idea of the possible relationships between emotions and food.

Adele is a role model for bigger women - you can be happy and successful when you are bigger - that is a positive message. Women shouldn't hate themselves due to their figure. It is HEAVILY promoted that being overweight is unhealthy - everyone knows that. A lot of women think they will be happy if they lose weight, some are but some are not. Happiness comes from within.

I am HUGE, size 22 (thanks to new bigger sizing - reckon it would've been a 26 15 years ago). I am reasonably fit - I go swimming, walking, to the gym - I eat A LOT but it is quite a healthy diet (despite being too much food which is obv not healthy). I am so many other things than my weight - funny, interesting, educated, pretty, confident, happy, gregarious. I have done lots of personal work and ironically since I feel better about myself as a person my weight is dropping with NO DIET.

I have friends who hate themselves so much they won't come swimming, one friend missed a girls spa weekend as she was too upset to wear a cossie. It's madness! Good role models make you feel good about yourself and offer something to aspire to. All fatties should like themselves, that might help 'cure' them!

Yeah, I think I need a and a chill out some where else. This thread just rubs salt in too many wounds for me. I have never admitted the above to anyone in RL. I try to put a brave face on it and pretend everything is ok.

hissymissy - so sorry that you feel that way about yourself.

I have felt similar feelings myself, though not to such a degree.

Although I don't agree that obesity should be promoted, I also feel that it is very unhelpful when slimmer people say things like "Just eat less".

Like someone else said, I think that more and more people are aware that there are emotional and environmental issues attached to weight gain.

I myself know that the reason I have gained weight is because I went from quite an active job and lifestyle, to an office job where I sat down all day. There was also quite a "cakes and biscuits" culture in this job, which I found it difficult to say no to.

I then became pregnant and used this an excuse to eat whatever I wanted, vowing to lose weight after the baby arrived, but I now weigh exactly the same as the day I came home from the hospital nearly 3 years ago!!

For me it is definitely a lifestyle thing - I am a SAHM and spend a lot of time at home, in the car, or walking very slowly with a toddler.

I haven't ever altered the amount I eat. I just do a lot less physical exercise (which I am currently trying to increase), and probably eat a bit more junk as well.

hissymissy - do you do any exercise at all? I'm not saying that to be a "fattie basher", but it's just that I know just how difficult it is to curb your food intake - it might be better for you to burn it off, rather than cut down what is going in?

Sorry, missed all of this last night

MaterTheGreater - I explained why I currently had a BMI of 28, I put on weight in the last 9 months after my miscarriage, I am ridiculously healthy now as I am chosing to do something about it.
I am also pretty fit (for me) in that I walk everywhere and go to the gym twice a week for a pretty intense workout. This is a recent thing to be fair, so I'm not expecting immediate results but you know what? I'm happy now, I'd just like to lose a little weight for me, you know how it is, summers coming up, I'd like to get back into my shorts and strapless tops.

Last summer when I was at my thinnest, I couldn't really enjoy it because it was overshadowed by everything that went into the IVF, so I'd like to shift a bit this year and be able to enjoy it without feeling like death.

.... and my health is fine, thanks, so I am indeed a happy, albeit, chubby witch :-)

What's the problem with advertising 'outsize' clothes. It's all very well for the moral army to castigate overweight people for their size but they've got to find clothes from somewhere don't they?

Hi wickedwitch

Sorry I misinterpreted what you said.

Yes, if you are doing as you say then you will probably find that your weight and BMI will gradually fall without you really thinking about it.

Great that you are happy - my whole intention of this thread was that healthy is what should be promoted.

IMO healthy = happy.

Size 4 isnt beautiful ? Thanks i will stop leaving the house and sybjecting you to it then . And pass the message on to ny slim chinese friends as well .

Bloody iphone. Subjecting. But really never beautiful ?

I'm not getting how this is a feminist issue. Surely men are encouraged just as much to be a healthy weight? Think of most of the male actors/pop stars, etc.

" I also feel that it is very unhelpful when slimmer people say things like "Just eat less".

So agree with you. It might be that simple for some people but for many it isn't. And 'eat less, move more'. No, really? Is that how you do it? In theory I know how to write that epic bestseller novel I am always planning- doesn't make it any easier to get on with it.

I have a good friend who is, I am guess, classified as obese. She keeps herself fit and eats a balanced diet, just doesn't want to 'diet'. She is beautiful, confident, capable, successful and has a solid happy marriage. She has also just adopted a 2 yr old boy. Being 'fat' does not mean you can't have a good life.

It might be that simple for some people but for many it isn't.

It is pretty much. It's just a matter of commitment.

If your friend is classed as obese then I really doubt she is fit or keeps a balanced diet. Something is not balanced!