Showing posts with label obesity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obesity. Show all posts

Tuesday 5 April 2011

The Face of Chinese Consumption



Guangdong 4-year-old Xiao Hao's weight is 60kg. He does not have a hormone imbalance, and below he is taking a nap at his kindergarten. More on the story over at China Smack.




More on this blog from my Bloated China post.

Friday 20 November 2009

Nothing tastes better than skinny


Of course this blog post comes to you while I tuck into a bowl of new potatoes with butter liberally applied, although I do think there's something quite remarkable about the uproar over Kate Moss saying this because it has all the hallmarks of a highly spreadable meme. I mean it's probably the best strap-line I've ever heard. It's a powerful way of saying don't do it.

Memorable, evocative and truly disruptive. 


Pity there's no money in it.

However in its defence.... it's a point of view. Those are Kate Moss's taste buds, and if she chooses to say not eating, tastes better than eating, then isn't she entitled to say that?

But as a prominent person (albeit one who has enjoyed a fat line of coke quite publicly and needs to be skinny for her job while making no attempt to be a role model) you might argue that she has a responsibility to set a good example and deter the never ending parade of anorexics and bulimics that the media are somewhat biased about reporting. 

Simon Rothstein for Murdoch-owned The Sun blasts aways.






But then isn't it in the interest of big Agra, big media and big pharma to be profitable by attacking anorexia as a more pernicious problem than obesity? 

Isn't it in the interests of those corporations and their lobby groups and PR companies to demonise anorexia when the real problem lies in the other direction? I often hear dangerously overweight people say "I love my food", but I never hear dangerously underweight people say "I love my waistline".


I say this as someone who has packed a few pounds in the past. Usually when I'm enjoying the delights of cooked breakfasts and delicious bread in the UK. Most people are quite surprised when they see this picture.




What do you think? Bit chunky like?


Update: In a situation worthy of Voltaire's assertion that God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh, I see that the word "fat" when Googled today provides its top story on Google News that is rich in comment on Western society. Peruvian gangs have been killing rural farmers for their fat sold to cosmetic companies in Europe. You couldn't make this up which, is precisely why we need to think about it a bit harder than usual. Imagine being slaughtered for your fat like a beast? There was a time when I had a few pounds to share but not including my liver, and heart and kidneys... *shakes head*.