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You are in the company of Roger Warren Evans

On Being Fat

Wednesday 9 January 2002
 


I am fat.

No I’m not.

I am, in the ugly prejudical term generated by the medical profession, clinically obese . At 272 lbs (19st 6lbs), I exceed by over four stone an appropriate weight for my 5’11” non-metric frame.

My weight is a long-standing feature of my personality and style. I come in part from Devon wrestling stock: my maternal grandfather George Cann was himself the grandson of Abraham Cann, the last prize-wrestler of Devon, in the 1840s. He was a man mountain who earned his living as a professional fighter > more

Whatever the true explanation , I was already “Fatty Evans” at my boarding school, and experienced both the bullying and the competitive stimulation that resulted. I have been seriously overweight ever since, even if the margin has varied. When I was serving in the Royal Navy, during my National Service (1954-56) they tried to draft me into the boxing-team as a heavyweight, but I resisted. For me, overweight has always been a fact of life.

Obese! The very word has acquired the most prejudicial of overtones. And this week a new campaign has been launched by Weight Concern to counter the many prejudices that plague the lives of fat people. “Too many overweight people,” says Professor Jane Wardle of Weight Concern , clinical psychologist at University College London, “have to fight against the misconception that obesity is a self-inflicted problem.

  "Overweight people,” she observed, ”live in a culture of blame where they are thought to be personally responsible for their problems through their laziness, lack of will-power and over-eating”, she comments. “The blame”, she says, “extends to discrimination and prejudice in the workplace, and even in health settings. The problem of obesity is worse in Britain than in almost any other European country” (Daily Telegraph).

Professor Wardle is right. Believe me,  I know. These prejudices are rarely stated, but they subtly undermine relationships and judgments, distorting perceived motivation and character assessment. I wish Weight Concern well, in their public information campaign. We fatties need it.

But for myself , I have decided to change course, and reduce my weight. It was a conventional New Year’s Resolution, made last week. But this time (as they always say) it will be serious, it will be different. I weighed-in at 272 lbs on Tuesday 1 January 2002. And I am pleased to report that by this morning my weight has fallen to 265 lbs. A weight-loss of 7 lbs in 9 days. I feel good about that.

I am determined to keep it up.

Wish me luck!

Do you have weight problems? Drop me a line.

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