13-year-old Paris Harvey from Kent has hit back at body shaming bullies by sharing a photo of herself in togs to social media.
According to The Daily Mail, Paris suffers from a metabolic condition, which means she gains weight quickly and struggles to lose it.
She was also born with hip dysplasia so her left leg is 1.5cm shorter than her right and she has pins in the joint which causes her to walk with a limp.
Since starting secondary school, Paris says she has been mocked by other children about her weight, who called her fat and teased her for “walking like a penguin”.
Paris says that the cruel taunts affected her self-esteem so badly that she wanted to ‘hide’.
“I got bullied in the past and after a while you start to believe what people say. I became really insecure about how I looked,” said Paris.
“I can be eating the same food as the next person but I gain weight. It’s not like I’m sitting at home all day eating crisps.”
“It’s also hard for me to get around because of my hips and it is harder for me to make changes than it is for other people. But I felt like I shouldn’t have to explain myself.”
Last weekend however, the young girl went to the beach and for the first time in three years wore only her togs.
Brave Paris posted the photos of her posing on a beach chair to her Twitter page in a post which was then liked over 330,000 times.
“I was worried someone would come up to me and stop me or stare at me but there was no response, people were just acting as they did before. I stayed like it for a few hours and I started to feel comfortable in my own skin,” said Paris.
“I was proud afterwards. It was quite an achievement.”
Unfortunately however, some Twitter users criticised the photo, saying that it “promoted obesity”.
One Twitter user posted a photo of a whale, @HerreraEdition wrote: “God this is disgusting,” and @xhakass_ added: “She is the opposite of beautiful.”
Discussing the negative feedback, Paris said: “There were some bad comments and I read them at first, but then I thought, “Why am I wasting my time on those?”
“I chose to focus on the support because hate is nothing compared to love. I feel like we should embrace who we are. You shouldn’t have to change yourself to make others feel comfortable around you. Focus on yourself.”
“I’m not making myself a model but I wanted to show people that it doesn’t matter what size you are – you are born into that body.”
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