Gym instructor wins 'fit and fat' dispute

Who says you can't be fat and teach aerobics? Certainly not Jennifer Portnick, a 17-stone fitness instructor from San Francisco who has just won a legal battle against America's largest chain of gyms.

Citing San Francisco's "short and fat" law – a city ordinance banning discrimination on the grounds of weight and height – Ms Portnick filed a complaint against Jazzercise after she was turned down for a job because she did not look trim.

Ms Portnick, 38, countered that what she called her "belly roll" had nothing to do with her physical fitness and took her complaint to the city Human Rights Commission.

Jazzercise admitted it had made a mistake insisting on a high muscle-to-body fat ratio and agreed to change its policy. A company statement said: "It may be possible for people of varying weights to be fit. The value of 'fit appearance' as a standard is debatable." San Francisco's small but very noisy Fat Power lobby was jubilant, not least because Ms Portnick's victory fell on the 10th annual International No Diet Day.

"Two-four-six-eight, we do not regurgitate," the crowd chanted on the city's waterfront. "Three-five-seven-nine, love your body, it's just fine."

Ms Portnick said the victory did not belong to her – she has no ambitions to work for Jazzercise because she has set up her own fitness business – but to all exercise lovers who no longer need to fear discrimination, at least not in San Francisco.