A controversial weight loss guru is campaigning for Britain to constructively fat shame obese people – and even wants UK’s Natural Health Service nurses to wear special badges if they’re fat.
Steve Miller, of Sky 1 TV show Fat Families, used to be overweight himself – and, after losing four stone to get down to a healthy 11st, now works as a motivational weight loss speaker.
Steve thinks that fat acceptance has gone way too far, and even wants NHS staff to wear badges admitting they are overweight.
Speaking to Sun Online, Steve said: “When a patient is struggling with their health, and they need to lose weight, often they will go and see a general practitioner or a dietitian.
“Don’t get me wrong, a lot of these guys do a great job, and they are role models, but if the dietitian’s fatter than the patient, how on Earth is that going to motivate them?
“I want NHS staff to volunteer to wear it to inspire not just the patient but themselves to take action.
“I want them to be proud that they are losing weight. I want that communicated to the patient. I think it’s a very fair message.”
He firmly believes that honesty is the best policy when it comes to weight loss and is not afraid to upset people with his comments, as he says shame is a great motivator.
He said: “What you can’t do is stroke the fat.
“We’ve got to be encouraging people to own their bodies, take responsibility for their bodies, and use humor through it as well. Laugh at fat.
“It’s about constructive fat shaming. It’s about telling people the honest truth, because this often motivates.
“I would say to them, ‘There’s a likelihood you may die of cancer early. Or there is a likelihood you may have a heart attack and keel over.’”
“Package it right, and fat shaming can be really constructive – because shame has been proven to be an emotion that can really motivate people.
“It creates the ‘ouch’ factor, but then what we do is give some aspiration to the person to drive them forwards.
“Should we be doing it with our friends and family? Yes we should, if it’s appropriate. So it’s not appropriate to do it with people that are in a vulnerable position.
“But with the dad at home, their partner should be saying, ‘You are becoming so fat that you need to get off your backside and take action and sort this out.’
“The tough love, the honest truth, triggers often action in a lot of people.”
In 2007, the cost of obesity to the UK economy was estimated to be $16.8 billion per year – including a $4.7 billion direct strain on the National Health Service in the UK.
Steve said: “We are really lucky in the UK, but we’re not taking action, and we’re not taking responsibility (for our weight), and it’s costing the tax payer millions.
“There’s nothing wrong with getting support, but the government’s given us a lot of support on obesity already. You’ve got to start owning it now.
“I also say to people, ‘Pay for it yourself.’ Why should the responsible pay for the irresponsible?
“As a nation, can we just get over the word fat please? Because do you know why we don’t like it? It’s because we’re in denial.
“It’s OK to say, ‘You’re thin.’ It’s OK to say, ‘Oh you’re looking skinny.’ But can we get over this ‘F’ word? If you’re fat, you’re fat. I was fat.
“Otherwise you’re going to be in denial and the obesity epidemic will get worse and worse and worse. We are pussyfooting around.
“Do I believe most fat people see constructive fat shaming as a breath of fresh air? Yes I do. It’s not for everyone but I think it’s for many if it’s delivered constructively.”
In recent years, there has been a big move towards body acceptance – whatever your size – leading to Protein World’s ‘beach body ready’ advert being sensationally banned from the London Underground.
But Steve thinks our mentality around weight is going in entirely the wrong direction, and argues that fat acceptance is killing people.
He added: “How can you be proud and fat? I want the government to introduce measures that ban any promotion, directly or indirectly, that says ‘fat is beautiful. Don’t worry if you’re fat’.
“How can they say that to somebody? Because what you’re really saying to somebody is, ‘It doesn’t really matter if you die early.’
“My view on fat acceptance is that those people are riddled with poison.
“Anybody out there that is promoting fat as acceptable are driving poison down people’s throats that will potentially kill them early.
“It’s totally unfair on the responsible people that pay their tax, and do eat well, and do a bit of exercise. Because they are having to subsidise the irresponsible.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun.
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