'Burn calories' phrases not fat shaming, says Miss GB

Jen Atkin was crowned Miss Great Britain 2020 in March

A woman crowned Miss Great Britain after battling obesity said phrases such as "burn those calories" should not be deemed as fat-shaming language.

Jen Atkin, named Miss GB in March, said people trying to lose weight should not be too sensitive to such phrases.

The 26-year-old from Grimsby, who weighed 18 stone three years ago and was told she was obese, said she considered it as motivational speech.

But an eating disorder expert said such language could "be harmful".

According to the NHS, almost two thirds of adults in England were overweight or obese in 2018. It recorded 11,117 hospital admissions in 2018/19 where obesity was the primary diagnosis, an increase of 4% from the previous financial year.

The administrator from Grimsby weighed 18 stone three years ago and was told she was obese

'Avoiding the issue'

Miss Atkin, who signed up to her local gym and lost eight stone (50kg) in two years, said: "People are offended way too easily these days.

"I think hiding terms like 'burn some calories' and 'let's burn off last night's pizza' is actually going to have a really adverse effect on people.

"I think it's going to encourage people to eat more calories and not keep track of what they're eating and therefore end up overweight or obese. It's just avoiding the issue completely."

Miss GB said she had been fat shamed in the past and believed the use of 'burn calories' phrases was "not fat shaming"

She said the language was commonly used as motivational speech in gyms and exercise classes.

'Feelings of guilt'

"Trust me I have been fat shamed in the past and this is not fat shaming," she said.

"Calories are in food and we need calories to survive... We need to educate people on healthy living."

However Belinda Barnett, from the Anorexia and Bulimia Care charity, said the terminology could be perceived as a trigger term for people with eating disorders.

"Language like 'burn those calories' suggest that we have to do some type of compensation for the calories we eat and I think that can feed into feelings of guilt and shame around eating."

Belinda Barnett, from Anorexia and Bulimia Care, said the language was potentially harmful to those "susceptible to calorie counting" or who "have eating disorders"

It comes after the University of Bristol said it would train staff to be more "mindful of their language" and to develop a greater understanding of eating disorders in response to one of its former students who highlighted the use of such phrases as communicating "the toxic ideals of diet culture".

The university has said it will not ban the use of specific words however.