Daily Mail - 04.03.2020

Daily Mail, Wednesday, March 4, 2020 QQQ Page 

Don’t say ‘fat’

• it’s as bad as

being racist!

EmErald stylE

Kate marks her visit to Ireland

by going green... three times

CALLING overweight and

obese people fat or lazy is

worsening their mental and

physical health, according to a

s t a t e m e n t s i g n e d b y 1 0 0

organisations.

Weight-based prejudice and

discrimination is as unaccept-

able as sexism or racism but

is endemic in society includ-

ing the NHS, the statement

issued yesterday said.

The letter claimed that, much

like at the height of the plague, chol-

e r a a n d A i d s e p i d e m i c s , t h e

tendency to blame the individual

prevents obese patients from receiv-

ing proper medical care. The team of

By Colin Fernandez

Science Correspondent

Thirsty work: Enjoying a Guinness

Evening sparkle: Kate in the Vampire’s Wife gown

IT was her first official trip to Ireland,

so there was only one colour for the

Duchess of Cambridge yesterday.

Kate, with husband William, arrived

in Dublin in a military-style emerald

green coat by Catherine Walker.

She wore co-ordinating £550 Manolo

Blahnik heels and £17,000 Asprey dia-

mond earrings in the shape of daisies.

When she took off her coat to meet

Irish president Michael D Higgins, she

revealed another green number, a

£1,567 Alessandra Rich rose print

peplum dress. But Kate, 8, saved the

best for last. On an evening visit to the

Guinness Storehouse to sample Ire-

land’s famous national brew, she spar-

kled in a third green outfit – a £1,

From Rebecca English

Royal Editor in Dublin

Arrival: In

a coat by

Catherine

Walker

Formal:

Kate in the

Alessandra

Rich dress

metallic chiffon gown by The Vampire’s

Wife, the label created by musician

Nick Cave’s wife Susie.

William, 7, and Kate are in Ireland

for a three-day official tour on behalf

of the Queen and the Government to

soothe post-Brexit wounds.

They flew to Dublin on a commercial

Aer Lingus flight. As well as holding

talks with President Higgins, they also

met prime minister Leo Varadkar and

his partner Matt Barrett before

attending a ceremony at Dublin’s

Garden of Remembrance – which is

dedicated to those who fought for

Irish independence from Britain.

experts, led by Professor

F r a n c e s c o Ru b i n o f r o m

K i n g ’ s C o l l e g e L o n d o n ,

issued what they called a

Pledge to Eradicate Weight

Stigma. Health campaigns

which stigmatise obese peo-

ple – popularly known as ‘fat

shaming’ – should be avoided,

the letter says.

A Freedom of Information

request last year uncovered

332 cases where overweight

p e o p l e f i l e d c o m p l a i n t s

against NHS staff for insult-

ing them over their weight in

the previous three years.

Patients moaned about lan-

g u a g e i n c l u d i n g b e i n g

labelled ‘cuddly’, ‘stumpy’

and ‘massively overweight’.

O n e p a t i e n t l o d g e d a

complaint against Barking,

Havering and Redbridge

trust after a worker told

her she was too big to use a

portable toilet.

A consultant at Portsmouth

Hospital was ticked off after

telling a patient ‘people your

size have become an epi-

demic’ and their headaches

were likely due to their

weight. Signatories included

MPs and peers from the All

Party Parliamentary Group

On Obesity, Diabetes UK,

the World Obesity Federa-

tion, and Weight Watchers.

The paper – launched today

on World Obesity Day in the

journal Nature Medicine – said

that reviews of scientific evi-

dence show that stigma

against weight can cause both

physical and psychological

harm, and that affected indi-

viduals are less likely to seek

and receive adequate care.

Instead of treating obesity

as a failure of willpower,

healthcare professionals and

the wider public should treat

it as a disease with genetic,

biological and environmen-

tal causes. Professor Rubin

said: ‘Often perceived as lazy,

gluttonous, lacking willpower

and self-discipline, people

with obesity are vulnerable

to stigma and discrimination

in the workplace, education,

and in healthcare settings.

‘History shows us with

examples such as the plague,

cholera and HIV/Aids that

stigma can interfere with

public health efforts to con-

trol epidemics.

‘Initiatives aimed at com-

bating stigma and social

exclusion were as important

then as they are now.’

Call to end shaming of the obese