A doctor has been criticised for claiming that trying to lose weight is ‘not good for your health’, and that your weight is a direct result of your privilege.
Dr Natasha Larmie, who calls herself ‘the fat doctor’, and weight loss expert Steve Miller clashed in a heated debate on This Morning today about whether children need more overweight fictional role models.
Natasha, from Hertfordshire, insisted going on a diet can ‘pretty much guarantee’ you will gain weight in the coming years, and that being healthy is largely down to whether you are born ‘white, male, able-bodied, cisgender and heterosexual’.
Fat Families presenter Steve, from the West Midlands, dubbed the GP a ‘disgrace’ for ‘glorifying’ being overweight during the Covid crisis, and accusing him of ‘quoting false statistics’ about obesity.
Dr Natasha Larmie, who calls herself ‘the fat doctor’, from Hertfordshire, insisted going on a diet can ‘pretty much guarantee’ you will gain weight in the coming years
Fat Families presenter Steve Miller, from the West Midlands, dubbed the GP a ‘disgrace’ for ‘glorifying’ being overweight during the Covid crisis
‘This is a really interesting topic, this idea weight loss is a good thing,’ said Natasha.
‘Actually most of the evidence out there shows weight loss is actually not good for our health. If you want to pretty much guarantee you’ll be heavier five years from now, then go on a diet because that is the greatest predictor of weight gain.’
She claimed the weight loss industry ‘doesn’t want to admit’ that diets can cause weight gain in the long term, and that they will eventually profit from people piling on the pounds.
Steve argued that while it’s important to ‘celebrate diversity’, he does not believe in ‘glorifying obesity’ and teaching children that being obese is not detrimental to your health.
Viewers quickly took to Twitter to share their views, with several disagreeing with Natasha’s argument, and calling her view ‘hugely wrong’.
‘What I’m concerned about is that we have a doctor telling the nation today, “Actually you don’t need to lose weight and you can be healthy”,’ said Steve.
‘That really concerns me because of all the obvious things we know being fat and obese leads to. We also know in the current situation, if you get Covid you are much more likely to be hospitalised if you are obese, and you are much more likely to die if you are on a ventilator in hospital with Covid.
‘I don’t understand why you call yourself the fat doctor, it’s like you’re promoting being fat? You’re going to have to explain to me why you feel it’s a good thing to be fat?’
Natasha went on to argue that Steve was ‘blaming the individual’ for being overweight, and that those who are born ‘white, male, able-bodied, cisgender and heterosexual’ will automatically have better health.
‘Health is not just physical, it’s mental and emotional and spiritual’, said Natasha, ‘And the second thing we have to appreciate is health is a privilege you are born into. It is not an achievement from losing weight.
Natasha went on to argue that Steve was ‘blaming the individual’ for being overweight, and that those who are born with privilege will automatically have better health
‘When you’re born into an affluent home, when you’re born white, male, able-bodied, cisgender and heterosexual that means you are more privileged and your health will automatically be better.
‘We have people like Steve who like to blame the individual and say weight loss is something we can do.’
Steve told he wants to ‘inspire and infuse our nation to live their life not obese’ and one again accused the doctor of glorifying obesity.
Natasha, who wants to ‘censor’ the word obesity, went on to make claims weight and BMI are not indicators of a person’s health.
‘What Steve is accusing me of is correct,’ she said. ‘I look at the evidence and it makes it very clear that you cannot tell if a person is healthy just by weighing them and measuring their BMI.
Steve told he wants to ‘inspire and infuse our nation to live their life not obese’ and one again accused the doctor of glorifying obesity
Natasha, who wants to ‘censor’ the word obesity, went on to make claims weight and BMI are not indicators of a person’s health
She went on: ‘What I do when I’m at work is I never call people obese, because I know how triggering that word is. I know it has contributed to a lot of weight stigma.
‘It’s so dangerous in the medical profession, my colleagues are not giving the same treatment as their thin patients.’
After accusing Steve of ‘quoting false statistics’ for saying obesity is the second biggest killer behind cancer, he cited a Harvard University study which ‘makes it clear’, there is a link between obesity and health problems.
‘You cannot be putting that message out as a doctor,’ he said
As Natasha went to interject, he went on: ‘You let me speak for a minute. The research from Harvard has made is absolutely clear, that you cannot be healthy and fat.
After accusing Steve of ‘quoting false statistics’ for saying obesity is the second biggest killer behind cancer, he cited a Harvard University study which ‘makes it clear’, there is a link between obesity and health problems
‘It is a disgrace in my opinion for any doctor to be shouting to the nation “If you’re a bit poor, you’re always going to be fat anyway and actually it doesn’t matter because you can be fat and really healthy”. It is just not true.’
Viewers quickly took to Twitter to share their views, with several disagreeing with Natasha’s argument, and calling her view ‘hugely wrong’.
One wrote: ‘I will fully argue with this ‘DR’ that she is hugely wrong. How is being fat healthy?? It’s far from it. She’s even saying being obese doesn’t effect your health? Of course it does? Honestly.’
Another said: ‘There is a difference between having fat on the body (this is normal) and being obese (unhealthy weight) Surely as a doctor she should know that??’
A third wrote: ‘No way is this woman serious?… I NEVER comment on people’s weight but being obese is not healthy, what is she on about. It’s not a bad thing to loose weight if it’s effecting your health.’