Fashion Fatties

I have noticed that recently the fashion adverts on TV have taken to normalising obesity.

Fat And Cellulite  - The New Chic Shape?

This appears to be in an effort to chase the fat pound (£).

This is a part of the fashion market, that has grown in the past four decades, from a much slimmer 8% of women in England being classed as obese (including morbid obesity), in 1980, to 29% of women being classed as obese (including morbid obesity), in 2020.

Now it has to be said, that male obesity rates have shown a similar growth in this period, with 26% of UK men being classed as obese (including morbid obesity), in 2020. But mens clothing is not extensively advertised on TV, and never with overweight or obese male models - men usually accept that they are overweight, and at least nominally aspire to 'get fit at the gym'.

However in the womenswear fashion world of the UK, there are now companies, whose whole TV campaigns, are based on the idea that overweight and even obese female bodies are the 'new normal'. Recently I have seen TV adverts by a number of female fashion companies, in which rather large young ladies have bounced about the screen, whilst proudly proclaiming that their bodies (shapes), are their own ... in fact denying the health issues, by suggesting that 'body shamers' and 'health fascists' are trying to force them into good healthy eating and exercise habits.

Now it has to be said that our standards on TV in the UK have noticeably lowered in the same 40 years as the fat crisis has developed .... we now screen what are essentially freak shows (disguised as sympathetic, and informational), such as 'My 600lb Life', or '1,000lb Sisters' as normal TV ... now, we also portray overweight and obese women as an acceptable body shape in less problematic TV shows, which is surely a dangerous thing. 

It goes completely against Government and National Health Service (NHS) advice and all our public health campaigns.

BMI Used To Measure UK Obesity

We can't accept the growing obesity crisis in our population, as this latest Covid pandemic, and current cancer figures have confirmed the link between obesity and Covid/Cancer outcomes, as well as being one of the leading causes of Diabetes and Heart Attacks .... Coronary heart disease for example causes around 270,000 heart attacks each year in the UK. Of these, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) estimates that more than 28,000 are directly attributable to the patients obesity.

Cigarette Health Warnings .... Graphic

TV advertising and shows that normalises fat and obesity should be either banned, or better still, carry a graphic health warning .... just like we do with cigarettes in fact.