Fiona spoiled a good point by insulting Robbie’s fans
THANK you for a wonderful newspaper. However, I must take issue with the Fiona Looney’s article about Robbie Williams’s fans (Mail, June 21).
My wife actually attended this concert with two of her friends. She said that contrary to Fiona’s report, there were many people there that were not obese.
Fiona is right in saying it is a problem of epidemic proportions. However, being downright rude and ignorant (in the correct sense of the word) is unhelpful to the cause she was trying to highlight.
I would like to point out that obesity is not a choice by anyone. All you need is some sort of catastrophic event which curtails your mobility and anyone can end up obese very quickly.
In January 2014, I myself was fit as a fiddle, did not drink or smoke, had my own business and went to the gym three times per week and was 79 kilos in weight. But I became very unwell.
Over the next two years I was diagnosed with a number of serious medical conditions and spent over four and a half months in hospital, during which time I ended up medically obese as well, weighing in at 100 kilos in August 2016. I am now down to 81 kilos after a very long, hard road back.
It is impossible for many people to ‘eat less, eat better and move more’ when you cannot move at all, are very unwell and maybe on medication. Things like reduced mobility due to shattering a leg, or breaking a hip, back problems, thyroid problems or indeed steroid medication can cause weight gain in a matter of months. The doctors are really good at identifying a weight problem and without exception, advise weight loss. However, there is no help for people apart from private weight-loss clinics, which most people cannot afford.
With regard to being ‘ashamed to be Irish’, maybe she should make plans to emigrate as it is a problem that is not going to be solved in the near future.
Her article is ill-informed, disingenuous and frankly insulting to Robbie Williams, his fans and the cause she is trying to highlight.
As to her comment that several people she met afterwards made the same point about the amount of obese people there, my wife and her friends only overheard people saying how good the concert was.
LEONARD JACKSON, by email.