Gok Wan warns parents that using the word 'fat' around children is 'degrading' and 'as bad as swearing'

The fashion expert opened up about his 'painful' and 'dark' past

Gok Wan has been praised by parents after opening up about his 'painful and dark' eating disorder past and offering advice to help stop children suffering the same issues.

Loose Women viewers have called for Gok to be a regular on the show after he appeared as a guest to discuss a new study about fussy eating in children.

The How to Look Good Naked presenter shared his own eating disorder experiences before warning parents to never use the word 'fat' around their children, claiming 'it is as bad as swearing at a child'.

The fashion expert explained that a lot of people can be susceptible to eating disorders, meaning it's all the more important to encourage children to have a 'healthy relationship with food'.

He said, 'Eating disorders are inherent in a lot of people and they lay dormant, a lot of people don't respond to them. I was quite heavily respondent to mine.

'They're painful, dark, horrible, hideous places to live in.'

The 42-year-old's advice to parents was to educate their children from a young age about healthy food and creating an association that 'food is fuel'.

'It's about education. It's about having a healthy relationship with food, about eating meals at home and talking freely about it [food].

'You've got to teach children as young as nine and as young as six that actually food is fuel. It's about health.'

Speaking passionately about the subject, Gok made it clear that in his opinion the word fat should never be used around a child.

'Fat is a horrible world. And it is often used to degrade somebody - it is as bad as swearing at a child.

'Get your kids in the kitchen. They want a chocolate brownie? Have a chocolate brownie.'

Twitter users applauded Gok on his attitude to children's food and body image, with one saying, '@therealgokwan he talks so much sense on @loosewomen he should be in the show as a regular', and another adding '@therealgokwan on eating disorders on @loosewomen was so good today!'

Would you like to see Gok as a regular on the show? Let us know in the comments below

GoodtoKnow

Trusted, informative, and empathetic – GoodToKnow is the ultimate online destination for mums. Established in 2007, our 15-year-strong archive of content includes more than 18,000 articles, 1,500 how-to videos, and 7,000 recipes.