Is fattism fair?

12/07/2008

'Fat rights' groups in America are calling for legislation to ban discrimination in the workplace against the obese, denouncing airlines that require large passengers to buy two seats and protesting against the new film WALL-E, a satire that depicts humans of the future as overweight gluttons who never leave their armchairs.

Ian Jones

Do we need to be more understanding of the obese?

In the UK, however, where one in four people are considered obese by the NHS, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, recently said those who don't manage their weight are helping to create a society that lacks self-discpline.

Pro-flab "fat-tivists" seek to reclaim the word "fat", arguing that terms like "overweight" and "obese" are morally loaded.

Fatima Parker, British spokeswoman for the International Size Acceptance Association, says that fat discrimination is worse in the UK than in the US and that the government ought to campaign against "anti-fat" attitudes as much as obesity.

Do you think that fat people are discriminated against? Or are they victims of their own behaviour?

Is it unfair to criticise people for being overweight? Or does the fact that weight-related health problems cost the NHS money give the Government and public health bodies the right to encourage them to slim down?

Are Britons and Americans really turning into obese gluttons who never leave their padded arm chairs?