Oh That Bod!- April 2000
FAR more women would prefer to have the trim figure of Sporty Spice or the
curves of Baby Spice than the thin frame of Posh, a new survey reveals.
Despite Victoria Adams's reputation as a clothes horse seen at
high-profile showbusiness parties in expensive designer outfits, the
7d-stone singer and wife of footballer David Beckham does not inspire envy
among the country's females, according to a poll for a TV diet and
exercise show. Asked whose figure they would most like - the fuller
physique of Baby, Emma Bunton, or those of Sporty or Posh - only 15 per
cent of 2,605 women aged between 18 and 65 plumped for Posh.
Instead, 40 per cent went for Baby, with Sporty, Melanie Chisholm, just
ahead with 45 per cent of the vote in a survey organised by Channel 4's
Why Weight. "We were a bit surprised by the results, at least given all
the hype and hoo-ha surrounding Posh," said Clare Field, who organised the
poll. "It really was a low percentage of women who wanted her figure.
"It was almost evenly split between the curvier look of Baby and the toned
body of Sporty."
Programme nutritionist Dr Laz Bannock who advises the British Olympic
squad said: "Being healthy doesn't mean you have to be thin. Just look at
the runners in the London Marathon in a few weeks' time. There are lots of
larger people who are healthy and running in it."
Many doctors and health workers are afraid role models such as Posh Spice
may encourage young women to try to keep their weight beneath its healthy
level.
Posh has vehemently denied she has any eating disorders. But she admits
she has sought medical advice about her weight after losing 14lb since the
birth of her son Brooklyn in February last year.
"They just said it's something that happens when you have children," she
said. "My mum lost three stone after she had my brother, so it's
hereditary. I think that I could probably do with putting on weight but I
just eat what I eat and this is the way I am." The survey also revealed
that 75 per cent of women are put off trying on clothes in shops with
communal changing rooms.