Plus size models proud of their curves is one thing, but the shocking reality of what it’s like to live at an extreme bodyweight is quite another.

Currently, there are almost a million morbidly obese people in England alone, more than double the number since the year 2000, and by the end of this decade it’s predicted that more than a third of us will be obese.

If you’re one of those ‘proud to be big’, having a re-think about the health implications of being overweight and the dangers of how curvaceous can quickly spiral into to obesity might be smart move. And if there’s one thing that makes us think twice about obesity, it’s being let into the largely secret lives of those who have hit those shocking extremes.

New 6 part series Big Body Squad, set to air on Channel 5, explores what it’s like to be so large you can’t tackle even the simplest of life tasks alone, and follows those responsible for some of the more awkward and sensitive jobs – such as bed bathing a person who weighs 50 or 60 stone.

One episode follows the story of Keith, who, at almost 60 stone, hasn’t left his house for 10 years except to go to hospital. With 8 men and an extra large stretcher needed to get him back into his house, it’s a job only a specialist team can tackle. But Keith is getting bigger, heavier, and wider and the doorways in the house are getting tighter. Getting stuck is painful and distressing, but increasingly it’s the reality for a man of his size.

We meet the specialised supersize ambulance team working to service Keith and the rest of Britain’s ‘Big Society’ and who deal with all the associated complications and risks that come with mobilising an obese nation.

Greg Barnett, Commissioning Editor, Entertainment, Daytime & Soaps, said of the show: “This is a very thought provoking series that presents hard facts and unearths some interesting findings. Obesity is on the increase in Britain and somebody has got to take the strain. Physically and financially.”

Elspeth O’Hare, Executive Producer, IWC Media, added: “We have been given amazing access to what is mainly a hidden world.  It has allowed us to see the shocking reality of what it’s like to live at these extremes of bodyweight.”

The team at Talent Management for one will be watching intently as the debate on weight in the modelling industry is ever more prevalent. The line between a model being a healthy plus size and being at an unhealthy weight is extremely fine, and often leads to the controversial question – does being fat and proud negatively influence the young and impressionable into thinking it’s ok to be overweight?

Perhaps when curves turn to obesity, fat needs to stop being an issue of vanity and start being an issue of health.