
Professor Michael McMahon of Nuffield Health says fat stars are seen as role models, helping to make being overweight acceptable.
He says it is akin to the dangers of skinny media images and anorexia.
A survey for the healthcare provider found many obese people are apathetic about their weight gain.
Researchers found many obese people refused to take any action about their situation with almost one in five not contemplating doing anything to lose weight.
The survey of over 2,000 individuals also revealed many obese people fail to recognise they have a problem at all.