A report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image and the Central YMCA recommended MPs should investigate putting “appearance-based discrimination” on the same legal basis as race and other discrimination.
Under the Equalities Act 2010, it is illegal to harass, victimise or discriminate against anyone on the basis of a number of ‘protected’ characteristics, such as their race, gender, orientation, age, or disability.
The parliamentary group, supported by the charity Central YMCA, has today published a report, Reflections on Body Image, recommending “a review into the scale of the problem of appearance-based discrimination and how this would be best tackled.”
It goes on: “This may include exploring whether an amendment to the Equalities Act would be the most appropriate way of tackling such discrimination.”
Under the current act, people can and are prosecuted for verbal abuse if it is deemed serious enough.
Rosi Prescott, chief executive of Central YMCA, said if there was strong evidence that appearance-related discrimination was widespread, the Equalities Act should be broadened to include it.
That would make it a punishable offence to harass someone because of their appearance, for example by drawing attention to their weight.
She said: “All the rules that apply under the Equalities Act now would also apply to appearance-related discrimination. They would be applied consistently.”
The report found one in five people had been victimised because of their weight, and that most people were dissatisfied with their body image.
Girls as young as five worry about their size and appearance, the group reported, while appearance was the largest cause of bullying in schools.
Society should be more accepting of overweight or obese people, said Ms Prescott, who even questioned whether they should be told if they were carrying too many pounds.
She said: “If there don’t feel overweight, and there are no health indications, what’s the problem?”
However, numerous studies have shown that overweight or obese people consistently underestimate how fat they are, especially if most of the friends and family are of a similar size.
In addition, countless edipemiological reports unequivocally show that those who are overweight or obese at a young age are more likely to develop heart disease, type two diabetes, and cancer, and die at an earlier age, than those of a healthy weight.
Almost two-thirds of British adults are now either overweight or obese, as measured by body mass index (BMI), a proportion that is forecast to steadily increase in coming years.
The report also advocated compulsory “body image and self-esteem lessons” for those in primary and secondary school, which Ms Prescott said should start “in nursery.”
Other ideas include a tight code of regulation governing cosmetic surgery advertising.
Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat chair of the group, said: “There is evidence from a variety of sources that people who are overweight or obese can be discriminated against and less likely to be employed.”
However, she added: “I’m personally not convinced yet that bringing this into the Equalities Act is necessarily the best response.”
More evidence was needed before taking that path, she said.
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, agreed with the concept of outlawing ‘size-discrimination’ and harassment.
However, he said doctors must be able to tell patients they were overweight or obese for their own good.
“There are a lot of people who are very fat and are quite happy being so,” he said.
“However, the problem arises if they don’t know the medical consequences that result from their fatness. Doctors must be able to give them ‘tough love’ and tell them they are overweight or obese.”
Fazel Fatah, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps), said the organisation “fully supports” a separate code for cosmetic surgery advertising.
He said: “The unrestricted ads, which we see on television and on the side of buses are clearly having a negative impact on vulnerable people and particularly children, and should be severely restricted if not banned outright.”
{The Telegraph/Matzav.com Newscenter}
I am not sure why this might be of specific Jewish interest. It is already an issur d’oraita.
This is already forbidden by halacha. It is ona’as devarim to call someone by a derogatory nickname, even if that person doesn’t openly object. Bullying using appearance-related names is widely practiced, even among our own young people, and this should be controlled by our parents and rebbeim.
If the law forbids it or not doesn’t matter to us. We can’t do it anyway.