Sorry, even as a health test, I’m not squeezing back into my stonewash flares

Can you fit into the same jeans you wore when you were in your 20s? That’s the question causing controversy in the newspapers and online in the past few days, after one of the world’s leading experts on diabetes said not fitting into the same size could be a risk factor for developing the disease.

Speaking at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes’ annual conference, professor Roy Taylor, from Newcastle University, explained that a small early study had found people with a normal BMI who developed type 2 diabetes could “achieve remission” by losing 10% to 15% of their body weight.

Explaining the findings, he said: “As a rule of thumb, your waist size should be the same now as when you were 21. If you can’t get into the same size trousers now, you are carrying too much fat and therefore at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even if you aren’t overweight.”

Well, doesn’t that sound a bit simplistic – and unrealistic?

Our bodies change so much as we age – especially for women who have children – and you would expect a medical expert to come up with a warning sign or “symptom” that is, well, more medically informed.

Surely there are more accurate assessments for the risk of developing diabetes rather than focusing on how we look and our body shape? We already have so much attention on our bodies, not to mention pressure to look a certain way due to social media. Do we need yet another

reason to be paranoid when we look in the mirror? Every body is different and “change” doesn’t necessarily always equate to “bad”.

After all, when I was a student, life was entirely different. There were fewer demands on my time, less everyday stresses. I had no car so I walked everywhere and I had lots more time to exercise and look after myself, so of course I was slimmer. If I can’t fit into the same jeans now, that doesn’t mean I am overweight or unhealthy – I’m simply older and living in a different body.

However, professor Taylor is right to highlight the growing need to

tackle our obesity crisis, and perhaps he has simply chosen a clever way to get people’s attention. If you want people to change, sometimes you need the shock factor – and, unfortunately, headlines like “Can you still fit into your jeans?” do make people sit up and listen.

In some ways, his advice could be seen as a clever way of relating to how people see the world today. These days we have a huge preoccupation with clothing sizes and body image, so highlighting potential underlying health conditions of being a certain weight, without focusing on numbers on a scale, is likely to get more people talking.

In the past 40 years, fast food has become more abundant, we have far more access to screens, and our lives have widely become more

sedentary, with few managing to reach even the minimum daily target for exercise. So, it is right to talk about the potential health implications of being overweight – but that doesn’t mean I’ll be returning to my stonewash denim flares anytime soon.