Bringing us down to size

WE were in our local pub a couple of Sundays ago when a lady came over and asked if her little boy could stroke our dog. “Of course!” I replied, cheerfully. “She’s ever so friendly.”

Her son then asked if he could also give her one of the biscuits from the treat jar on the bar.

“That would be lovely,” I assured him. “Just the one, though. Don’t want her getting fat, do we!”

At which point, this little boy looked up at me, chuckled and went: “No. Not like you!”

Yep, I’d been fat-shamed by a five year old. Honestly, you should have seen his mum’s face. “I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed.

Now, obviously I didn’t mind a bit. In fact, I laughed my socks off. First, because I have indeed put on a few pounds lately and it does me no harm to be reminded, and, second, because I have a red-hot defamation lawyer and that cheeky little brat won’t be making the same mistake twice. (Joke). But these are sensitive times, and not everyone “living in a bigger body” deals with it in the same way.

Illustrating this point to perfection is a new two-part documentary series, WHO ARE YOU CALLING FAT? (BBC2, 9pm) where a group of overweight people with contrasting outlooks spend nine days together at a remote country house, not only to share their experiences but also to enjoy a healthy exchange of views as to how they should feel about their size.

One of the first we meet is 57-year-old sales manager Del, a down-to-earth guy with a pretty straightforward attitude. Del used to weigh more than 25 stone and hated it.

Scared of dying early and having undergone decades of failed dieting, he eventually underwent a gastric bypass, now weighs 10 stone less and says he’s never felt happier.

Inspirational? Not to body confidence coach Victoria, a “fat-positive activist”.

Victoria gets very cross when people use words such as “overweight” and “obese”. In fact, more than very cross: she wants such terms banned.

Hearing people say them “gives me a physical reaction of feeling, like, sick,” she tells the others. “Using those words pathologises fat people.

“It says there’s a weight you should be, so if you’re over that weight then there’s something wrong with your body.”

Fellow group member Sarah, a volunteer for Obesity UK, seems surprised that Victoria is dismissing the medical implications.

“You don’t agree with science behind it then?” she asks. Victoria does not.

“The science behind it is completely bogus and out of date and really problematic,” she insists, “and actually very hurtful towards fat people.”