A fitness instructor for the British Army has complained that the body positivity movement is encouraging recruits (as well as the general population) to be over weight. Queen’s Guard Lance Sargeant Farren Morgan works as a physical training instructor for the Coldstream Guards in Westminster but he’s becoming increasingly frustrated with the physical fitness levels of incoming military personnel.
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- Morgan has a big problem with bigger people. The 36-year-old claimed that body positivity isn’t a way for people to love themselves and encourage acceptance of everyone regardless of size. Instead, he thinks it’s trying to brainwash people into thinking “being big is okay” and is only putting “plus-sized people on the screen to please [the] public opinion.”
- Body positivity is negatively affecting his new recruits. Lance Sgt. Morgan insists that “hard facts show it’s wrong to promote a dangerous lifestyle.” He also points out that “being overweight” can cause “medical problems … further down the road.” All of these things are true, of course, but to blame body positivity for people being overweight seems a bit… misguided.
- New army recruits are really struggling from poor physical fitness. Morgan, who owns the Tactical Athlete personal training company for people who want to join the military or emergency services, reveals: “These young lads – some of them are only 16 or 17. I know they watch TV day in and day out. I know from my eight years of training young recruits that their brains are like sponges. They see these images in the media, promoting this unhealthy lifestyle – celebrities saying it’s okay to eat what you want, as long as you’re happy. That mis-information gets stored in their brains and they pass it on.”
- It’s not all down to the body positivity movement. Morgan also blames the number of takeout options in the country as well as the ease of ordering through apps like JustEat and Uber Eats. He believes we should be encouraging healthier meals that have fewer calories for young people. He also believes bullying bigger people is a great way to get them to change.
- Don’t like it? “Man up and get over it.” While many have criticized the idea of putting calories on menus as it may trigger those with eating disorders, Morgan thinks we need to be doing that and more. “I think we’re scared to just see what’s going on and deal with it,” he says. “Just grow a pair. We’ve been through two world wars, but it seems like we’ll try to find anything to moan about.”
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