THE world is obsessed with being fat, avoiding being fat, eating fatty foods and, yes, avoiding them.

Here though, in this slightly cringeworthy series, is a “chance” to look at some people who are worse off, body wise, than you are.

Some are fat because they’ve eaten too much, others have inherited the fat gene — it’s been proven, apparently — and the rest have just been born with certain unfortunate conditions.

One chap, Glenn, with an enormous belly, is believed to have been given steroids for his asthma as a young child and it kick-started an ever-growing stomach. When he pulls down his trousers, well...

The Baker family, meanwhile, are all overweight, but it is apparently an inherited condition.

There’s a woman with a problem not suitable for discussion in a family newspaper and it emerges that Derby is the “fattest place” in Britain, so it’s a big congratulations to the citizens of that particular county town for fighting off some pretty stiff opposition.

On a slightly more serious note, there is something a bit grubby about watching this type of programme, which is, at the same time gripping and extremely uncomfortable.

Still, take some consolation from the fact you won’t be in as much discomfort as the people featured in this series.