Just last month, 53 Americans died in mass shootings…while 40,000 died from obesity

• Jane Moore

• 17 Sep 2019, 22:58

IN his fascinating book Unnatural Causes, forensic pathologist Dr ­Richard Shepherd observes how, over the years, the dead bodies he examines have changed.

One of the most noticeable is the rapid increase in body fat.

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Obesity levels are rising at such a rate that a 'timebomb has exploded' for our health servicesCredit: Getty

He says: “Unless a patient is homeless or has died of cancer or is so old or poor they could not eat, few are the same shape as the dead of the 1980s when I started practising.

“Looking back at forensic photos from that era I am astonished at how thinness was then the norm.”

Fast-forward just three decades and obesity levels are now rising at such a rate that one expert says the “timebomb has exploded” for our

health services.

Consequently, the NHS is reportedly bracing itself for soaring levels of cancer, Type 2 diabetes and heart and liver ­disease.

'FAT SHAMING COMEBACK'

For a taster of what’s potentially to come, let’s cross the Pond to America, where talk-show host Bill Maher had this to say: “In August, 53 Americans died from mass shootings. Terrible, right? Do you know how many died from obesity? Forty-thousand.”

A shocking statistic indeed and it’s indisputable that it should be highlighted and widely debated.

But he then said this: “Fat shaming doesn’t need to end. It needs to make a comeback. Some amount of shame is good.

“We shamed people out of smoking and into wearing seat belts . . . shame is the first step in reform.”

Meaning that, fuelled by Brit James Corden’s robust response on his chat show, Maher’s call to “fat-shame” became the debate and smothered the real issue of how supposedly developed nations can tackle this spiralling health crisis.

We shamed people out of smoking and into wearing seat belts . . . shame is the first step in reform.

Fat shaming isn’t the solution, although in the 2015 case of a mother ordering takeaways for her hospitalised 13-year-old, I could possibly make an exception.

The Manchester-based mother, whose child later died from “a heart ­condition  . . .  exacerbated by their morbid obesity”, had persistently ignored healthy eating advice and failed to bring the child to various health appointments.

Shame on her.

But in the majority of cases, ­finger- pointing and name-calling gets us nowhere.

However, equally, we shouldn’t attempt to normalise obesity for fear of causing offence.