This week people in white jackets from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges have proposed we crack down on obesity by raising the price of fizzy drinks, banning junk food ads and taking the fat out of hospital food.
In a report issued by the Academy (who represent nearly every doctor in the UK), the doctors are calling for the government to treat fast food like cigarettes and yet again the doctors miss the mark, massively.
Obesity is seemingly the issue that everyone has an opioin on, fed largely by misinformed press headlines like the 'obesity epidemic', and questionable statistics that endorse the idea that every fat person on this great Isle is maliciously killing off our health service.
As much as George Osborne might like the Academy's suggestion of a 20% tax on fatty foods it's not going to do much for Britain's waistline - do you really think a £1 burger newly priced at £1.20 is going to make England thin? Whatever the government decides the best route is to tackle obesity, the price of pop has fizz all to do with my fat!
The suggestions raised by the doctors include a 100 million pound investment into medical interventions such as weight loss surgery. Here is where my many problems lie with this report - none of their suggestions tackle the real issue behind obesity: mental health.
I've had a difficult relationship with food since I can remember. I am the son of a bulimic and as a result I adopted bad eating habits. I also learned that food could supply emotional support at times of need. I am not fat because I'm greedy; I'm fat because I've lived with an emotional eating disorder for over 15 years.
If we are so set on tackling obesity then this report is completely the wrong approach. If someone suffers from anorexia it would be completely ludicrous to mock them in public, cut them open, expand their stomachs and expect them to magically have a new relationship with food. Yet why do we think this is the way forward with overeaters? Twenty per cent of people with eating disorders die - the largest number of fatalities amongst all mental health conditions. If you believe moving take away joints away from leisure centres is going to cure people with food addictions and get the nation slim then we need to talk.
We, as a society need to rethink how we treat obesity - medically and socially. Each day when I leave my house I am confronted by fat phobia - be it shouted from white vans or the huff and puffs of people forced to sit next to me on public transport. I am fully aware my body repulses some of you- but I don't care
Here's a radical notion: some of us chubsters don't want saving, we love being fat. This might sound like I'm contradicting myself but my brain and my fat and completely detached. Every time I sit down to eat a meal I have to re-evaluate my relationship with food; eating disorders are one of the hardest addictions to cure. Unlike drugs, alcohol or fags you need food to survive. Now, with my eating disorders under control, my fat represents a strong, sexy and confident person. I am happy with the body I inhabit.
March sees the start of the third annual Burger Queen pageant. It's a body positive variety show that celebrates chubsters who are able to make positive connections between mind and body, and who aren't afraid of flaunting their flab. It's a radical idea, but one that is becoming increasingly popular- ticket sales are bulging as quickly as the British waistline. Why? As the bullying of fat people increases, it's only natural that an outspoken band of fatties fight back... and we're doing it in sequin bikinis and high heels. Jeremy Hunt eat your heart out.
http://burger-queen.info