Last week Nike unveiled plus-size and para-sport mannequins at its London flagship store. The inclusive step was, quite rightly, widely celebrated and praised across social media and the press, who applauded the brand’s representation of various body shapes.

“So vital to point out that woman of all sizes might be fit and healthy! We have now been completely brainwashed into pondering skinny = fit and curvy = unhealthy. That is awesome,” wrote one commenter on an Instagram post by Refinery29. “So needed! Especially within the energetic wear sphere it’s not only thin individuals who exercise,” wrote one other, while another person added, “This makes me so blissful, I’d have loved seeing such a mannequin once I was just a little girl.”

Nevertheless, not everyone has been so ready to hitch in on the celebration. Yesterday, The Telegraph published a story wherein author Tanya Gold claims Nike is promoting obesity and selling women a dangerous lie with the brand new mannequins.

In her inflammatory piece, Gold criticises Nike for the move and calls out the body positive movement, which she calls the “fat-acceptance movement,” for killing women.

“The brand new Nike mannequin just isn’t size 12, which is healthy, and even 16 – a hefty weight, yes, but not one to kill a lady. She is immense, gargantuan, vast. She heaves with fat,” Gold writes. “She is, in every measure, obese, and he or she just isn’t readying herself for a run in her shiny Nike gear. She cannot run. She is, more likely, pre-diabetic and on her approach to a hip substitute.”

Considering how offensive Gold seems to seek out women over a certain size, quite why she could be angered by something which promotes exercise – the mannequins display Nike’s plus-size range for girls which launched in 2017 – is unclear but her words have upset many, with beauty watchdog Estée Laundry leading the reaction.

“Fucking vile and dangerous of her and the Telegraph,” wrote Bethany Rutter on Instagram. “WEIGHT DOES NOT EQUAL HEALTH. REPEAT.” wrote one other commenter.

“‘She heaves with fat’ is likely to be probably the most absolutely disgusting ‘evaluation’ of something that needs to be celebrated. I’m a lady of that size and seeing mannequins like this make me feel encouraged. For too long has the gym floor, or any exercise space felt overwhelmingly intimidating for woman and men who aren’t a size fucking 12. How are you going to encourage women of any size to enjoy exercise, movement and even just benefit from the fucking clothes without representation. This text is utter bullshit.”

“Plus size doesn’t all the time = obese. Thin doesn’t all the time = healthy. One size does NOT fit all. And once more, clickbait has been mistaken for journalism.”

As many individuals identified, health and fitness can’t be judged by size. In 2016, a study conducted by the University of California-Los Angeles and published in the  International Journal of Obesity found that body mass index (BMI) just isn’t a reliable approach to measure someone’s health. The study reports that just about half of Americans (34.4 million) who’re considered chubby by their BMI number are healthy, as are 19.8 million who’re considered obese.

In light of this, Gold’s comments feel outdated and needs to be given no further attention.