‘Fat’ is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her.

I mean, is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do i know about the pressure to be skinny? I’m not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain…

I went to the british book awards that evening. After the award ceremony i bumped into a woman i hadn’t seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? ‘you’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time i saw you!’

‘well,’ i said, slightly nonplussed, ‘the last time you saw me i’d just had a baby.’

What i felt like saying was, ‘ire’ve produced my third child and my sixth novel since i last saw you. An’t either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?’ but no – my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!

I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because i don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; i’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, i’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be hermiones, rather than pansy parkinsons

-J.K Rowling