Plump celebrities contribute to obesity crisis

Celebs like James Corden and Beth Ditto are bad role models

Beth Ditto, celebrity news, Marie Claire
Beth Ditto, celebrity news, Marie Claire

Celebs like James Corden and Beth Ditto are bad role models

Plump celebrities like James Corden, the star of Gavin and Stacey, and Beth Ditto, who fronts band The Gossip, are fuelling an obesity epidemic by providing dangerous role models, doctors claim. More than half of Britons are overweight and nearly a quarter are obese, according to a new study. But a fifth of obese people say they are not planning to lose weight and one in eight claim that they are ‘not bothered’ about their body shape.

The success of overweight celebrities causes the public to accept being overweight as normal and ignore the dangers of carrying too many pounds, the researchers say.

The survey of over 2,000 adults was carried out for charity Nuffield Health, which offers weight loss surgery in its hospitals.

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In hit sitcom Gavin and Stacey and his spin-off sketch show with co-star Matthew Horne, Corden, 31, regularly shows off his belly and makes fun of his weight. Ditto, 27, has posed naked for magazine covers and recently stripped down to her pants on stage at a festival.

‘The increasing profile of larger celebrities such as James Corden, Ruth Jones, Eamonn Holmes and Beth Ditto means that being overweight is now perceived as being normal in the eyes of the public.

‘The danger of celebrities who flaunt their weight is that viewers admire them and do not take their own weight as seriously as they should,’ said Professor Michael McMahon, Nuffield's consultant.

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