A finalist for Miss Great Britain says the BMI scale should be scrapped as she is classed as ‘obese’ despite being healthy and having just been picked as one of 20 in the top of the ‘beach body’ section. Helaina Miorgan, 30, from Bolton says women shouldn’t pay attention to what their BMI says.
She said: “Female empowerment is a vital part of my story and especially for women with curves. Bringing that representation and being the inspiration I never had when I was younger, as I was always the chubby child. Growing up with ‘puppy fat’, I used to struggle with my self-image, especially growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s when the beauty standard was to be tall and very very slim.
“When I was younger at school and still had my ‘puppy fat’ I used to feel embarrassed in my PE kit of my big legs and my bum – it would constantly ride up! I have to be conscious about the length of my skirt as it would always be shorter at the back than the front due to my shapely bum.
“This is down to my natural curves from my heritage and genetics being part North African. I’m British born, with a background heritage of Egyptian and Mediterranean heritage which I think comes into play also. I am only 5″4, I am currently a dress size 10 to 12 and I weigh 86kg. My body has fluctuated over the years from being a slim size 8 to 10 to a large 14 to 16.”
Helaina added: “Like any woman, I have struggled with self-image and confidence over the years, but after years I’ve finally found the self-confidence to find that balance of being confident in myself and my body while maintaining a healthy balanced lifestyle which makes me happy.
“I am anti BMI as currently I am classed as ‘obese’ which sounds very upsetting. Luckily I feel resilient enough to not let this affect me or my mental health anymore but a few years ago this would have sent me into a spiral of feeling terrible about myself and made me very self-critical.
“I have close friends who this has also happened to, who are also not obese and I know it has deeply affected them which makes me frustrated. I feel confident to look in the mirror and know I am not obese, I’m just a curvy, healthy woman and women’s bodies fluctuate all the time.
“Even when I was a small size 8 to 10 I was still curvy – that’s just my body type and my genetics. BMI is regularly criticised for being Eurocentric and for being unable to take into account different ethnicities and genders.
“BMI can also not distinguish between abdominal fat and other fat and I feel there must be a better and more in-depth way to assess people’s health and weight better than BMI. I have been told by doctors in the past to even ignore that it says I’m obese so why is it still used and there for people to focus on?
“Sometimes even now, there will always be people telling me there is something wrong with my weight, but I am proud of who I am and I look after myself, eat in moderation and go to the gym because I love it! I feel empowered, recharged and powerful by exercising with boxing, cardio and weights, which help me release tension and stress from the day.
“I would class myself as a mid-sized queen and say that I’m proud of my body and I can’t wait to show that off on the Miss Great Britain stage. I’m excited to strut my stuff on stage, it’s very empowering!”
Helaina said: “This will be my second attempt at the Miss Great Britain title. I am no stranger to Miss Great Britain with my own mother competing in back in 1984. If I was to be crowned Miss Great Britain, I would love to be the face for women who feel the pressure to meet societal expectations.
“I want to give them the confidence to do life in their own time, celebrate it as it happens and go against the societal grain that expects us to have the conventional life all in order by a certain age. I would thrilled to be able to have such an incredible platform and duty to continue with my fundraising for the charities and my message of empowerment, self-confidence and inspiration for all women.”