Commentator Lauren Chen has claimed Americans are "blind" to the fact that many Americans are "fat" or "obese", as the body-positive movement continues to dominate social media.
This comes as new data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that obesity currently affects four in ten Americans.
Appearing on GBN America, Lauren Chen said the "health crisis" of being overweight is spreading across the States, with "66 per cent of people being overweight".
Chen told host Patrick Christys that in America, the conception of what "fatness" is for the average adult is "so skewed".
Lauren Chen says the concept of being 'fat' in America is 'so skewed'
Getty / GBN America
When asked by Patrick why she believes "so many Americans are fat", Chen claimed it is a "really complicated issue" and "often Americans say someone who is overweight is just normal".
Chen explained: "There is an actual health crisis in America. It's an epidemic, it's not debatable."
In criticism of the body-positive movement, Chen said people "shouldn't hate themselves if they are overweight", but it is a "medical fact that being overweight is unhealthy".
Chen told GBN America: "You can take steps to improve your health through diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes. But a lot of the body positivity movement I think is born out of the fear of eating disorders, born out of maybe anorexia or wanting to be too thin. That's not good either."
Obesity currently affects four out of 10 Americans, new data has revealed
Getty
Chen also noted that a common issue in American society is "very far from a place right now where the general concern is that Americans are too skinny".
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Patrick asked Chen if she felt that obese people "being promoted on things like fashion adverts or television is holding them up as a standard" and "making everybody celebrate the fact that they are so big".
Chen responded: "One hundred per cent. If you asked me this several years ago, I probably would have had a different answer. Frankly, I might have said there's nothing wrong with representation.
"There's nothing wrong with people wanting to see themselves in ads, but now, I see how damaging that idea is. If you talk to many Americans nowadays and you show them someone who is objectively overweight, there is a good chance they will say that's just a regular person."
Chen fumed: "Their ideal of what normal is, is so far toward the obesity scale, they have forgotten what a regular skinny person even looks like. And I think trying to hold up fat models and actresses, singers, actually contributes to that."
Lauren Chen says Americans have 'forgotten what a skinny person looks like'
GBN America
Turning the conversation back to body positivity activists, Patrick asked if they are "symptomatic of a bigger problem" relating to "personal victimhood and a lack of accountability".
Chen agreed, replying: "Unfortunately when I listen to body positivity activists, and again, I understand as a woman who's gone through weight fluctuations and pregnancy, I understand you want to feel comfortable in your own skin. You don't want your sense of self-worth to be dictated by what you look like.
"But I think when we start getting into the idea that being fat is healthy, that your weight doesn't affect things like diabetes or risk of heart disease, then we start to change from the realm of just victimhood to actually now this is something that is dangerous, this is something that is harming people's lives."