Gaultier Uses Plus-Size Model

I think the model looks cool. But it is a way to draw attention only. If he used similar models regularly, then it would not be.

It actually gives me the courage to consider wearing that. In fact plus size models are pretty good looking. One realises that one can look good while trying to lose weight. It gives us confidence when we look good.

I’m not sure I understand what point Gaultier was trying to make. I agree, it all about the show.

If it was done as a joke, I really dont think its funny. If it was to make a point, I hope the point is that, REAL WOMEN look good. I hope designers realize that, and actually design for REAL WOMEN!

I hope this "joke" blows up in the Fashion Industry's face! I understand that "normal" women aren't size 20, but neither are they size 0. Average is somewhere in the 12-14 area. I would be happy if I saw ladies who were that size regularly walking the catwalk, and even happier to see clothes being designed with that size in mind.

I go for more classic vintage clothes myself.

If it was a joke wouldn't Jean Paul have picked someone ugly to model? If it is a joke than he will answer for it. While the 12-14 area is average there are lots of 20 plus women who would spend a fortune for trendy clothes given a chance.

I used to be bigger than a size 20. I am not offended if someone bigger or smaller than me wears a dress from the same maker.

How did size 0 come into existence? Are these girls so thin that they cannot be even measured?

Size 20 is a LOT closer to what I see on the streets these days than the typical catwalk model. Definitely closer to 'normal'.

Sad, but true.

Definitely just attention-grabbing from the designer. Although I think the woman has a pretty face, I don't believe someone that size is as healthy as they could be, and if this became "the norm" on the catwalk it would be just as irresponsible as using the skeletal models. Why does it have to be one extreme or the other?

In response to the age-old question about body-weight in the original post, "what exactly is normal?". Normal should be the weight at which someone is healthiest. Maybe everyone should throw away their scales and start tuning in to their own bodies for a change.

If Gaultier were just trying to use healthier models, he would have picked average sized women, not overweight ones. I think this particular model was used as a joke...sort of an oxymoron-type thing. I agree with Caramelle-oh....it's irresponsible to promote obese women as "normal" just as it's irresponsible to show women with BMIs of 14-17. I think it would be great if these designers used average women...average HEIGHT, average WEIGHT, etc., to promote their clothes. They'd get more buyers that way, I think.

Spectra- I agree. I would like to see everyday women- sizes 6-14. Having someone who is morbidly obese walk in the show is just as irresponsible as having someone grossly underweight. Either way, it is promoting an unhealthly lifestyle.

I resent the comment in the Daily Mail article that the model probably felt embarrassed! Why should she be embarrassed? She is obviously comfortable with her size and feels confident to walk down a catwalk. Good for her! Although I agree that obesity shouldn't necessarily be glorified, since it is a real health issue, (as is being underweight) seeing someone who is confident in herself regardless of her size is refreshing. When I was a size 20, there was no way you'd catch me in an revealing ensemble like she is wearing. That said, I did like to wear stylish clothes when I was a plus size, which were hard to find, and it would be nice to have more modern and exciting choices for those who do want to wear revealing outfits despite their size. I guess I want to say that although I agree that this was a move to get attention, so what? It is raising a lot of important discussions.

that is a big sexy woman!!!

Why is going to the other extreme any healthier or more justified.
I could care less what his motivation was to use plus size models
No one on this planet can make anyone happy in their own skin. That is a personal job.

The first thing I though on viewing this model is how much harder is her heart having to work than if she was at a HEALTHY weight.

I agree with the comments that Gaultier's motives were purely to gain publicity. That image has flashed around the world and here we all are discussing it.

After all, I'll bet JPG doesn't actually make clothes for women that size!

I'd just like to add another comment on clothing sizes. I will freely admit that one of the reasons I lost weight was that I was starting to outgrow my Australian size 18s (US size 14). In Australia, you just can't buy stylish clothes above a US size 14 - many designers cut out at a US size 12 or even 10. I'm sure that if we had Lane Byrant or similar stores, I would have just continued to get fatter.

Also, the fact that our clothing sizes are two sizes larger than US sizes is another incentive to lose weight. Size 18 sounds much fatter than size 14!

i think the model looks hot! let's hope other designers follow suit!

I'm a size 18, and it is so hard to accept myself the way I am, and so I'm doing Curves and losing weight. I WISH, i could be like this model, strutting her stuff, looking sexy, and confident. I'm hoping all this controversy, will have other designers making clothes for ALL women. We want to look good too. I can literally only shop at 3 stores in a mall, when anybody else can shop where ever they please. Why not have more plus-sizes at regular stores? We matter too, even though it's unhealthy to be this weight...BUT IT'S SO HARD TO LOSE IT....

I think Mr. Gautier went to the extreme to make a point (that tacky comes in all sizes) using a model of these proportions. She is attractive but obviously his 'creation' was intended to shock NOT flatter. Even if this was an 'average'-sized model it would be trashy. But then again, how much of what we see on runways is designed to actually be worn by the general population?

Some people are assuming that this model in unhealthy just because she is a size 20. She could actually be a lot healthier than a size 2 model, or a size 12 model - we don't know - so we shouldn't be jumping into judgements and conclusions about her "health".

The fashion industry is all about image in the end, and I think that the image she projects is of beauty, unconventional, but beauty nontheless.

Yes, Peppa, she may well be healthier than a size 2 or 12 model, however, it is a known fact that being obese isn't healthy, period.

Caramelle-oh, sorry, I don't buy this "fact" - not when many of the studies that state such findings are sponsored by the diet industries and are usually distorted to meet certain expectations and results. Obesity that is extreme poses danger on vital organs of course, but one can not assume that just because a person is overweight or obese he/she is unhealty. Health is compromised by a number of factors including a lifetime of bad eating habits, lack of exercise, environmental pollutants, stress and genetics. There are fat people who lead healthy lives! Many don't but MANY do. You can not honestly and accurately judge a person's health without having the person's medical evaluations and chart in your hands - that's a fact.

I think it was done as an attention getting stunt. Still, it gets it out there that bigger women can be pretty.

I'd be happier if it were normal sized... Size 20 is not just a little bit overweight, and she's likely not horribly healthy either, especially if she's holding steady at size 20.

I think they should show healthy women. Bigger than they have been, but smaller than this.
Sizes 2-12 maybe?

I'm size 12 to 14 myself, probably 14 in hoity-toity brands and healthy... but I can tell you, the average person I know of my size isn't that healthy, they do not exercise 5+ days a week (and real exercise, not a little stroll)

I don't like jumping to judge, but a size 20 model is not at her optimal health. You don't gain weight to that degree by healthy eating exercise... she is not just an overweight model, she is obese. Look at her. Maybe she's healthier than the runway models currently en vogue, but it is not an image that should be projected as ideal and beauty either.

She looks beautiful. Her skin is lovely and her curves are proportional. Still, I have been influenced enough that I would not be happy at that size. I am a US 8 and trying to lose 2 sizes still. Although obesity is unhealthy (well--she's probably overweight but not obese), it is more unhealthy to be skeletal. An obese person may die at 50, but people who don't eat die as young as their teens and twenties. Just look up Luisel Ramos and see what the industry did to her.

I understand that thinness helps to show off the clothes, but forcing models to be unhealthily thin if they want any work is a human rights violation (even if it's voluntary, they are young--many in their teens--and easily influenced by the glamour and prestige). Also, the designers should take some responsibility for those viewing the ads. I know so many girls with eating disorders who repeatedly saw extreme thinness as the only standard of beauty held out to them, and they finally succumbed to it because they wanted to be beautiful. If only someone had showed them that they were already beautiful.

"Caramelle-oh, sorry, I don't buy this "fact" - not when many of the studies that state such findings are sponsored by the diet industries and are usually distorted to meet certain expectations and results."

There are a lot of overweight/obese people out there saying similar things. The myth of the fat person being a picture of health has to stop, it is just as dangerous as being underweight, and in New Zealand it is starting to put a huge strain on the health system.

Caramelle-oh: What myth of the fat person being a picture of health??? Is there indeed such a myth???! Let's be realistic, the myth is that ALL fat people are unhealthy and that thin = health. My point is that many fat people are in fact unhealthy, but so are many thin people. I am NOT stating that fat = healthy, the reality is that diet, lack of exercise and genetics (amongst many more factors) largely determine health. Laying blame exclusively to large fat cells does not make sense. It is evident that there is a real "fat hysteria" out there and it has clearly been shown to influence the health of young girls who cave into soceity-influenced pressures and start on a path of dangerous diets and a detrimental body image mentality (as some people on this forum have related from first hand experiences and as is evident everywhere you look...).

Now as to the whole health system issue, a strain on health system can include: smokers, drug users and self-medicators, the elderly, the poor, alcoholics, mental illness sufferers, chronic compulsive dieters...: How are you going to deal with these segments of the population? You can't do anything about certain segments of the population, period. But others, how? With the same zealous and high-pitched manner that the "public health interest" people are trying to deal with fat people? What of the many AVERAGE SIZED people who suffer from lifestyle related illnesses (like diabetes)? Who are you going to blame for their, condition? The food industry who produces processed metabolic poisoning sugars and chemically altered foods, or their themselves? Or do these average-sized people escape blame because of their size? I think it's time to stop believing everything that we are fed (no pun intended) and instead think more pragmatically. People are living longer - that's a fact - but more chronic diseases are directly linked to our overall lifestyle, which affects people of ALL sizes. Laying blame to fatness is a cop-out and a victory only to the high-failure-rate but extremely-high-profit-yielding diet industry.

The myth isn't thin=healthy, it's thin=beautiful, health doesn't come into it in the ridiculous media circus. No-one has said that being overweight is the only contributing factor to being unhealthy, but we would be in denial if we said that it wasn't one of them (the one that is relevant to this post), and I agree that thin people suffer from health problems due to poor lifestyle choices also.

Personally, from an aesthetic point of view, I could care less what size people are, models or everyday Joe, what worries me is the health issue and peoples' reluctance to accept that it's not ok to be more than a little overweight just because they are healthy(or claim to be) in all other aspects of their lives. It concerns me that the extremes (obese or anorexic) seem to be becoming so commonplace that to comment on it means we must have an issue with fat/thin people and are jumped on by the politically correct.

It's weird, I know a few people who still say that smoking is ok, that all the "facts" are wrong, and that because they eat healthy and exercise, smoking wont affect them they way it does other smokers. Sounds all too familiar, I have heard the similar "big but healthy" story from many people in my short life.

"Obesity is a term used to describe body weight that is much greater than what is considered healthy.... experts believe that a person's body mass index (BMI) is the most accurate measurement of body fat for children and adults. Adults with a BMI greater than 30 are considered obese. Adults with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight.... Anyone more than 100 pounds overweight is considered morbidly obese."
Quoted from US National Institute of Health web site http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003101.htm

I weigh 180 at 5'4" and am technically obese. I don't look it, I just look overweight. (I also prefer calling myself "fat" since "obese" has such negative implications.) However, I guarantee that if I, at a US size 12, am obese, then the model falls in the same category medically.

To claim that the health risks of obesity are scare tactics invented by diet pill makers is preposterous. Deceiving yourself is never healthy, whatever your body type or self-image.

When I was a size 14, I considered myself "fat but healthy" because I figured I didn't have diabetes, I didn't have high cholesterol, I didn't have any aches/pains/etc. I didn't work out and I ate fairly healthy, just more than I needed to be eating. I was in denial about my health though...my resting heart rate was elevated, I could barely run a mile and my body fat % was pretty high. Aesthetically, I still liked my body then...I figured I was "big and beautiful" like this model.

Once I decided to get healthy, I started exercising and eating better and I lost the extra weight. I am now much healthier than I was when I was overweight...I have lower blood pressure, lower LDL cholesterol, lower fasting blood glucose levels, etc. I think a lot of people that are overweight talk themselves into thinking that they are "healthy" even though they are carrying more fat around than is healthy. It's true that skinny people can also be unhealthy, but it's a cop out to say that weight doesn't affect health. It's generally recognized that most people with a healthy BMI probably eat better and get more exercise than those that are obese or underweight.

Known fact. Increased weight = increased risk for Diabetes.

Spectra - my stats and experience were very similar to yours. I kept telling myself that I didn't have any health problems - YET. But I did have sleep apnea, but didn't realise at the time how dangerous this is. When I spoke to my doctor about losing weight, he was very relieved; I realised in hindsight he was waiting for some health problem to crop up, or another birthday, to talk to me about losing weight.

In my experience and observation, there's a lot of denial in being significantly overweight or obese - denial about what you look like and denial about what you're doing to your body. IMO the Fat Acceptance and Health at Every Size lobbies are whistling in the graveyard.

RedPanda--Exactly. I also had severe menstrual cramps...so bad that I had to get prescription pain meds for them and I'd miss at least one day of school per month. Once I lost weight, my periods got a lot less painful. I explained it to my doctor and she said "Well, sometimes losing weight can alleviate symptoms like that". I said, "Well, if it was that easy, why didn't you just tell me to lose weight instead of prescribing me narcotics?" Not everything can or should be cured with a pill.

I think it was a statement on the whole Madrid banning skinning models thing...

But Vivienne Westwood has shown different body types on her runway - from stick-thin Kate Moss to athletic women like Alek Wek to Sophie Dahl (pre-weight loss, when she was around a size 12) and they all look great and it sends a message that her clothes are cut to fit all body types.

Well Susan, I am 10 pounds heavier than you and an inch shorter, so I'm obese as well, although, like you, I just look overweight. Unlike some others on here, I was very small my whole life without even trying, until I got pregnant. 3 months after the birth of my baby, I weighed myself and discovered I was morbidly obese. I'm down to "regular" obese now, haha, and determined to get back to my small, pre-baby self (and never let this happen again!). Speaking from experience, as one who has been both big and small, it IS NOT GOOD to be too big. Spectra, I hear you about the whole menstrual thing, I never had a problem until recently.

Yeah for Jean-Paul Gaultier. It was definitely a publicity stunt, but still positive regardless. As for the health effects of obesity, yes... they're real...but making fat people feel like crap usually isn't motivating either. 95% of people who lose weight on diets, gain it back. Better is to encourage people to eat healthful foods and exercise regardless of their weight..because it feels great and is good for them. Whether you're a size 2 or 28, you should honor your body with healthful food and exercise.

99% of all models smoke. Known fact smoking = significant risk of cancer and heart disease. So should we ban all models who smoke as well? I wish... but unlikely. Give the girl a break and let her enjoy her time in the spotlight.

BTW, this woman is not a size 20... more like a 24 or 28... at least on the bottom. Good for her for having the self-esteem to walk down the runway and strut her stuff. Most women say they're fat when in reality they're not.

Galliano also used a plus-sized model in his show.

For a really interesting read, look at "Zaftig: A Case for Curves"

Caramelle-oh, comparing smoking to fat is nonsensical. Smoking is a process in which you introduce poisons into your body, fat is a lipid that is needed to maintain normal cell functions!

Spectra: A BMI is equivalent to the Food Pyramid of past years - it's outdated and it is not a one-size-fits-all.

Redpanda & Fuzzy, I think that your statements denote a lack of insight and an obvious lack of sensitivity to the plight of others. What give you the right to be so judgemental?

I know that this is not the forum to discuss these issues because after all it is a diet forum.
I like this website because it has a lot of helpful information and I love the format and also because I am a firm believer in taking control of one's health. I was a dieter in my teenage years - I would never go back on a diet again, but I do watch what I eat and keep active and I'm as healthy now being a size 12, than I've ever been before. I am not a fat acceptance girl, I am pro-health, but I do not support fat hysteria: I consider fat hysteria a sign of ignorance and arrogance more than anything (and sometimes a sign of self-hatred).

It's interesting that some of those criticizing my statements did not answer any of my hypothetical questions (from my previous post) but instead resorted to cliches and other "fat is never good" one liners. Exactly, how is that supposed to counter the legitimate points that I made?

Another hypothetical situation: If two women have equally lousy diets - one of them fat - the other thin, and both of them get type 2 diabetes, what advise will you give them? Improve their diets and exercise, right? What if the overweight woman changes her diet and starts exercing and eventually controls her diabetes with minimal medication, but does not lose much weight. On the other hand, the thin woman does not change her lifestyle, still eats lousy, but instead solely depends on medication to control her diabetes. Logic would tell us that one of the women has improved her life, not just her medical condition, but the prejudice of some will not want to admit this...

I invite you to take a look at the writings of someone who has actually taken the time to analyze some of these fat studies data. Now Ampersand is on the other side of the debate, but this counter-analysis involves a thorough deconstruction of the data of this particular study (you'll find others too), something that very few fat critics actually do when they get their hands on obesity studies. (If there is so much irrefutable evidence, then by all means show it! Deconstruct it to death! Analyze it, don't just report and repeat it!)

Link

I don't intend to hijack this post, and I apologize if it seems this way, but as I see that the opinions here tend to be one-sided in this particular issue, I felt the need to share my views to add a bit more balance.

One last question: If more than half of Americans are keeping the diet industry rich why is it that more than half of Americans are still fat and a great many people are suffering from eating disorders? Something does not make sense here....

OK here I go, DIETS DO WORK! I wish everyone would listen to this piece of advise!everyone is on a "diet" the word diet just means what you eat, its that simple, even people who keep saying 'modify your lifestyle' or 'change your eating habits' or 'eat healthy'It just means YOUR diet. Its just that the word diet has come to mean something else in our society. I got very fat by believing I could'nt change the way I was. I became frustrated because I would lose weight and then put it back on again, I like everyone else blamed my "diet" instead of myself ,the truth is it was my fault I was eating too much and drinking to much and not moving, and I just gave up because I told myself "oh well I guess I am just meant to be fat!" diets don't work so why bother right? Bull! there are too many people giving to much conflicting infomation, thats the main problem! I became to scared to even try! 'diets lower your metabolism,your body goes into starvation mode! and don't deny yourself anything crap' and blah blah this and blah blah that! from every diet book and every program on tv and every magazine no wonder we are all confused! I am 48 years old I was virtualy told don't bother because at my age weight loss is pretty impossible well I have just lost 20lbs over the last 6 weeks, I have dropped 2 dress sizes and I feel great! nothing majic no pills no gimmiks, i started exercising, walking mostly (briskly) about 4 miles a day I have added weight training about 3 times a week and I eat sensibly, lean meats mostly chicken,fish salads and fresh veggies I have never eaten cakes and cookies and ice cream or sodas, so nothing to give up there but I did give up my nightly glasses of wine, and although I am on a DIET I can report that I am still alive and my body is not starving (and I feel great and my clothes are dropping of me!) You see when i came to the USA from England I could'nt believe your portion sizes everthing was huge! pizzas, hambugers salads everything! I used to be a model before I married and came here I weighed 112lbs at 5'7, I was naturally thin I didnt diet but pretty much ate what I wanted but our portions in Europe where so much smaller (20 years ago)and my husband (an American) would encourage me to eat so It became 'normal' to eat these huge amounts of food. Years went by, 3 children (1 set of twins) and a lazy lifestyle and I was over 100lbs more than when I met my husband and I had given up, and then one day I looked in the mirror and I cried! I looked bloated and unhealthy and I did'nt want to anymore, I did'nt want to turn 50 looking like this so I started my healthy new life. I have proved to myself I can do it I can take control of my life, I am back in charge I have stopped making excuses,yes its not easy but to be honest with you I am never hungry I dont miss my favorite foods (mexican and hot wings and oh yes chips!) much, and the reward is I feel better I look better and I am starting to get an interest in clothes (and sex) again, I have a long way to go I would like to lose another 50lbs but I am now armed with the knowledge that I CAN DO IT, so I will keep it up and I will never LET MYSELF do this to MYSELF again! yes I will take responsibility for my actions, I let myself become fat because I was too comfortable it was to easy,and actually thats the only secret you need in losing weight, don't buy another book don't join another plan its yours for free! take responsibility for yourself and dont blame your diet ever again! a diet is just what you eat whether it is 5000 calories or 1500 calories a day, its not the diets fault, you make the choices.
Oh just a word about being healthy and slim, my 17 year daughter is a size 0 naturally, she eats very healthy, and has agreat appetite does not smoke or do anything crazy, she is very beautiful inside and out,so not all size 0 people are doing it unhealthily, my dad is thin looks great on the outside, but has had terrible stomache problems for years, had half his intestines removed and suffers from ibs and a host of medical problems, eats whatever he wants ,cookies,loads of sweets choclates cakes,colas,etc, you can't judge a book by its cover! the BMI is crap if you are over muscular or any other factors thrown in it throws the whole thing out of wack, most top athletes would be severly obese on the BMI scale because they carry so much muscle.
I would like to finish by saying the thing the that has really helped me the most are the positives that I read not the negatives, if you don't belive that you can do it then you wont, so I want to say yes you can! but don't belive the books the infomercials and the diet industry because they just want to take your money and confuse you with the latest miracle lose weight in 2 days without dieting crap! you CAN DO IT, but only you can, and it takes dedication and yes willpower (which seems to have become a dirty word)and yes you have to want it more than that next piece of fried chicken!

I think Peppa makes good points. Also, part of what the whole talk about "fat" is so charged is not accepting that even when eating healthy and exercising, some people will still be (shocking!) "fat" by our our current standards. That doesn't mean it is unhealthy to them.

Then of course people start with slippery slop type arguments saying that if we say it is ok for these naturally bigger people to be healthy at size 12, 14, 16, whatever their natural is, that it will mean we are embracing morbid obesity and people who weigh 500lb. No, it doesn't mean that. If a person who is 500lb wants to diet, by all means, I agree they should. If a person who is a size 12 because they eat crap all the time wants to diet - again, they should. But if someone is actually healthy and happy at a larger size, like for ex. Jennifer Portnick, should they diet just because currently we've said that size 0 is the standard? Of course not.

I do agree that BMI is not always 100% accurate, but what I was getting at was that most people that are unhealthy are usually not exercising or eating the best (fat OR thin). Lots of models are "skinny fat" and have almost no muscles and never work out and smoke a lot...that's an example of skinny and unhealthy. And there are a lot of healthy marathon runners that probably carry a few extra pounds on them, but they exercise a lot and have lots of muscle....that'd be an example of "fat" and healthy. Part of it is the diet mentality, I think. I personally don't "diet", I just eat fairly healthy and exercise. I'm not fat, but I'm definitely not as skinny as a model. I still think though, that at a size 20, that is outside the norm...just like a size 0 is outside the norm. I'd like to see more models that are maybe a size 4, which in model world is "curvy" or a size 8, which in model world is "plus sized".

What myth of the fat person being a picture of health??? Is there indeed such a myth???!
Yes, there is such a myth; it varies according to cultures and other factors, but it's pretty pervasive. I have frequently heard overweight people (including me!) cheerfully say they're healthier than "those twigs" (as delusional as anorexics claiming they are getting healthier as they shrink). India as a country is experiencing an upsurge in obesity, in part because mothers have always believed that a "chubby" child is healthier. An Italian man told me that he loved large rumps and therefore I should take an extra helping of lasagna to keep my bottom round. My friend's Thai father always told her she should "bulk up" more like me (even though we were both normal girls, she had very fine bone structure and was much slimmer). Fat is associated with prosperity, and that is rooted deep in human development -- after all, if you're a competant hunter/gatherer, you can keep your children well-fed. It's also why most males don't find too-thin-females attractive.

A BMI is ... outdated and it is not a one-size-fits-all.
That's why it has ranges (see more on statistics below); also, it should always be evaluated in conjunction with many other factors. I am comfortable using BMI for my self-analysis, but a physician should not use only BMI for diagnosis or prescription.

What of the many AVERAGE SIZED people who suffer from lifestyle related illnesses (like diabetes) ... do these average-sized people escape blame because of their size?
Regardless of weight, people should eat a well-balanced diet. If not, they'll pop up on their doctors' radar due to their diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, osteoporosis, or other diseases often caused by "bad habits".

Basic statistics says that a "normal distrubtion" (aka the "bell curve") of a population means that the majority of your population should be somewhere around "average." You'll always have people below the 5% or above the 95% of that population, that's just how statistical variation works out. And for those people, what works for the middle -- "average" -- 90% of the population can't apply, because they're just different. The too-fat or too-thin woman who eats and exercises sensibly falls on the tail edges of the bell curve. If someone has tried five fruits/veggies a day, increasing fiber intake, cutting calories, and exercising regularly, and still can't lose weight, that's a good sign she is "unusual" and may never look "average." (But she'll have better health than the woman who eats too much, never exercises, and still manages to be stick thin.)

The flip side of the coin, is that for 90% of the population, the "average" rules DO apply. You SHOULD have a weight within a certain range if you are a certain height. (For example, at my height, that's roughly 110 to 140 pounds. I will never be 110 pounds, because I have large bone structure, but I have been 140 before and will be again.) The system can't give every person a customized diet and exercise plan -- they have to make blanket recommendations that end up not meeting the needs of the tail ends of the bell curve. It isn't fat hysteria to say that overweight = unhealthy for the majority of the population. (And it's easier to make generalizations than to qualify one's answers with statistics all the time, therefore, overweight = unhealthy.) It is impossible for us to say for sure how healthy this model is, BUT -- statistically she is more at risk for a variety of health problems. [The likelihood of medical problems is equally high for too-thin women.]

I don't think there's anybody here who believes that weight is the ONLY health factor. Any system which encourages miracle diets, appetite suppressant pills, and other "quick fix" solutions, instead of fundamental lifestyle changes to keep the weight off, is indeed a broken system. You're preaching to the choir ;-)