Often the assumption is that overweight people have lost their self-control. That frightens society because there is so much emphasis on being slim, she says.

“Often it’s not the larger person’s excess weight that is the problem, it’s the other people’s obsession with being thin.

“Most people want to be slim, but this perceived physical perfection is difficult to hold on to and they fear losing control of it. Women and men can be on diets their whole lives and it’s utterly miserable.

“They project that fear and unhappiness on to people who are bigger and that often translates into abuse and attacks. It’s a way of people disassociating themselves from what they fear the most – getting fat.”