Kate Upton has had plenty of column inches since her illustrious swimsuit cover for Sports Illustrated.

Kate Upton on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition

And nearly every article written has labelled her sexy and curvy.

It’s that word again – curvy – I use it myself I admit, but it’s the way the media uses it to describe a woman who isn’t a rake thin model but a healthy sized woman that doesn’t have bones jutting from her collar bone. The way they imply the word curvy seems to be a nicer way of saying fat.

Am I reading too deeply, or does anyone else agree?

Kate Upton has a banging body and amazing boobs I do not deny and even if some say she is just another American blonde, why does a pro-anorexia site feel the need to attack her claiming she is “thick, vulgar” and “almost pornographic”, as well as “piggy”, “lardy” and “well-marbled”?

Even Victoria’s Secret have had their say over Kate Upton claiming she wasn’t the right image for their famed Angels: “She’s like a footballer’s wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can buy.”

Ouch. If I’m not mistaken Victoria’s Secret have plenty of blonde girls on their roll call and it would be a step in the right direction for the American brand to employ someone like Kate when they are so well-known for their stupid photo-shopping errors to make their girls as skinny as possible. We all remember what Candice Swanepoel looked like last year…

Candice Swanepoel (centre) flanked by Adrianna Lima (left) and Alessandra Ambrosio (right)

Kate, 19, hit back at her online bullies telling The Sunday Times: “I’m not going to starve just to be thin. I want to enjoy life and I can’t if I’m not eating and miserable.”

A fantastic response from the size 8 model, but what worries me is not so long ago another young woman who burst onto the scene in 2006 and enjoyed tons of success as a plus-size model has in the past couple of years shrank to a shadow of her former self.

Crystal Renn then and now

Crystal Renn, was scouted at the age of 14 in her hometown of Mississippi but was told she would need to lose weight to be considered as a serious model, and thus developed anorexia nervosa. It was not until several years later Crystal reemerged onto the model circuit marketed as a plus-size model (US size 12, UK size 14) and was hailed for her comeback.

Even after publishing a book ‘Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves’ and seemingly embracing her figure, she appeared a few years later in 2010 as a US size 8, claiming hiking and yoga for her weight loss. Someone who was so applauded for walking the runway had shrunk to become a ‘regular’ model.

As much as Kate Upton claims she wants to eat, will she be strong enough to carry on with her success and not bow down to fashions ideals of what models should look like?