Fat shaming has reached a new low: the London, England underground. Commuters there are being targeted by a group that calls itself “Overweight Haters Ltd.”
“Our organisation hates and resents fat people,” reads a card given to Kara Florish, a national health service worker.
“We object to the enormous amount of food resources you consume while half the world starves…And we do not understand why you fail to grasp that by eating less you will be better off, slimmer, happy and find a partner who is not a perverted chubby-lover.”
“You are a fat, ugly human.”
Florish told The Stylist she’s a size 12/14 (which is a North American size 8/10), is active and goes to the gym at least twice a week.
She calls the note “hateful and cowardly” and worries how it could affect people struggling with confidence.
“I work for a mental health organisation so am aware of how detrimental something like this can be to the wrong person.”
A UK study found that fat shaming can actually exacerbate weight gain.
“Weight discrimination has also been shown to make people feel less confident about taking part in physical activity, so they tend to avoid it.”
READ MORE: Trying to encourage weight loss? Why ‘fat-shaming’ won’t do it
Sean Thomas Knox shared one woman’s “stunned desolate” reaction when she was handed the “fat” card on Monday.
“Young man just got on train at Oxford Circus, gave printed card saying YOU’RE FAT to overweight girl. He jumped off. She read it, & cried,” Knox said on Twitter.
A plus-size fashion brand tried to undo the damage, offering a £500 gift card to the woman. The company also took advantage of the fact that “Overweight Haters Ltd.” seemed to forget to register its domain name; so it decided to use the page to spread some positivity.
READ MORE: Dear Fat Shamers: Dispelling obesity myths
Others chose to share their support on social media in more “colourful” ways.
The British Transport Police are investigating and have encouraged anyone who has received one of the “‘fat shaming’ leaflets” to contact them.
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