Too Fat Too Young

As part of the Great British Food Fight to improve the eating habits of the Brits, on Channel 4, Gok Wan sets out to discover the route of the growing obesity levels in the UK.

Gok Wan, stylist of How to Look Good Naked and self-esteem superhero, has boosted women’s body image and helped them to love the skin they’re in.

His empathy runs deep: as a teenager, Gok weighed 21 stone. He was over-eating, overweight and, at times, far from happy. Gok succeeded in transforming his body, but whilst on the outside he has won his battle against food addiction, inside he is still looking for answers.

In Too Fat Too Young, Gok talks to teenagers who have been severely affected by food addiction and explores the frightening extent of Britain’s teenage obesity crisis.

“If you take a room of 1000 people, some thin and some fat, and line them up science has unequivocally proven that 75 per cent of that difference is to do with genetics.”

In his discovery he meets the experts, asking what can be done to prevent this growing epidemic? Gok unravels some of the reasons behind the complex issue and finds out how and why the problem is growing so rapidly in the UK.

Gok’s battle with his weight saw him reach 21 stone when he was 17 years old. The programme depicts an honest and personal journey; he returns to Leicester to his school and his old family home and takes a look at his relationship with food. Along with food addiction specialist Dr Le Fever, Gok unravels his deep-rooted issues and looks for answers as he goes on his journey. Asking the question, ‘Is there such a thing as food addiction?’

Gok also hears from a variety of obese teenagers and tries to understand why this age-group is particularly susceptible to weight problems, and the devastating psychological effect these can have on their lives. One moving story heard of the trials of a mother and daughter; Maria, a 15 year old who has now lost three stone in a year thanks to a gastric band, explained her need for food; “What do you say to people who say, ‘just eat a salad’?” asks Gok. “It’s not that easy. There’s much more behind it. If I hadn’t had it done I wouldn’t be here now,” comes the stark reply. Some people might have said it was the parenting that made Maria obese, her mother explained she knew something was wrong and would give in to Maria; “she wanted more food and she got aggressive, like a drug addict.”

Dawn French talks to Gok about the body image pressures today’s teenagers are under. Is it worse for young people than ever before? Dawn knows the perils and highlights of being big. Gok asks her how important size is in making her who she is. “I’m sure there’s an element of comfort for people watching me doing comedy because they think ‘ah, look at her, she’s that size but she can take the piss out of herself’,” she admits. “That’s OK as a starter.”

Dawn insists the most important thing is to be honest with yourself about how you feel and to face your own demons. “If someone honestly dislikes themselves being fat I wouldn’t advocate that they remain fat,” she explains. “You can change it.”

Dawn did just that – before she got married Dawn dropped from a size 20 to a size 12 in just 8 months but it didn’t make her happy. “That was not who I was, I didn’t understand that thinner body,” she explains.
The obesity crisis is explained further by leading experts in the field, and Gok explores some of the recent breakthroughs made by geneticists in Cambridge in the search for a ‘fat gene’ – submitting himself to the genetic test to find out what the future holds.

Currently 80 percent of obese children will become obese adults, “If you take a room of 1000 people, some thin and some fat, and line them up science has unequivocally proven that 75 per cent of that difference is to do with genetics.” Although he discovers he does not have the major genetic that makes some obese, he persists in finding the answer. Professor O’Rohilly puts the rising obesity levels into perspective; “In contrast to the million years of our evolution, for the first time we’ve got an almost unlimited access to food,” explains the professor. “Combined with the lack of need to physically go out and physically work for that food. It’s almost inevitable that any of us who are genetically predisposed to being obese will in this environment become obese.”

Professor Shield believes people should slow down when eating in order to reduce the amount of weight gained; this enables us to feel full after eating rather than craving more. She also explains that by loosing weight, breaks the barrier of self esteem that seems to be the issue of weight gain in many individuals, therefore children, teenagers and adults will feel happier and again loose more weight.

It may seem that there is no easy answer but learning to like yourself will make you take care of yourself. SHINE, an organisation to help kids and teenagers value themselves also features on the show. “What has SHINE taught you?” Gok asks a 10 year old girl. “Self help – that I can believe in myself,” she replies.

The kids at SHINE are full of energy and Gok is impressed; “I think this is absolutely mind-blowing.”

Gok’s journey has made it clear to him that burying his memories of being an obese teen was not enough to change the way he sees food or himself. “It’s quite clear I still am obsessed with food, and you know what? That will probably never go away.”

In a personal interview with Channel 4 about the programme, Gok expresses the lack of compliments we give as a nation, and that we need to be happy and lead our lives, after all we are all different for a reason! View Interview

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Let us know at 100% People how you felt about the programme, do you think the campaign to make the UK more aware of the rising obesity levels is beneficial or is there a need for further action?