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Lawrence wants word 'fat' banned on TV

Jennifer Lawrence. Picture: AP

Actor Jennifer Lawrence is calling for the word "fat" to be banned from TV, because she insists it is as damaging to young generations as cigarettes and profanities.

The Hunger Games star says the term amounts to a form of bullying and claims it is thrown around too loosely in the media, so she is urging TV broadcasting officials to take a stand.

In an interview for the TV special Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013, Lawrence says: "Why is humiliating people funny? I get it, and, and I do it too, we all do it.

"(But) the media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool...

"And the word fat, I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV. I mean, if we're regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words, because of the effect they have on our younger generation, why aren't we regulating things like calling people fat?"

The full interview airs in the United States on Wednesday, but it's not the first time Lawrence has spoken out about the issue.

In November she criticised catty comedienne Joan Rivers for judging celebrities based on their appearance on her reality show Fashion Police, claiming the program teaches youths "wrong values".

"There are shows like the Fashion Police that are just showing these generations of young people to judge people based on all the wrong values and that it's OK to point at people and call them ugly or fat," Lawrence said. "We have to stop treating each other like that and stop calling each other fat."

Rivers subsequently hit back via Twitter, accusing the Oscar winner of "arrogance".