Why is ok to say, skinny and not fat?

[allycat06]

DH has always been skinny, probably always will be. When we first met he was quite underweight (Around 70kgs...he's 196cms) and lots of people (myself included) used to comment on it, not realising how much it hurt him. I remember often commenting on how much his ribs stuck out and telling him to eat more! I suppose because slim is perceived as being the 'normal' size in society we never seem to think of it as a bad thing, the slimmer you are the better (which of course is stupid). Not ever stopping to think that perhaps that skinny people are fighting their own kind of weight battle.

DH has always been the type of person who struggles to keep his weight up, he has to eat constantly to the point of not enjoying food and just a few days of being sick and bam! 5kgs down. A few years into our relationship I noticed he was starting to gain a bit of weight and put it down to him quitting smoking. Turns out he'd been using weight gain powder but was too embarrassed to tell me! I didn't find out for months. He felt silly that he had to resort to a supplement to put on weight...no one should have to feel like that!

I suppose all of that has taught me to be very careful what I say, just because someone is slim doesn't necessarily mean they like it and just because someone is larger doesn't mean they are unhappy or unhealthy. As long as YOU are happy with yourself that's all that matters right?