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A 20-stone politician put in charge of public health has come under fire for being too FAT for the job.

Among her duties as Belgium's new Minister of Public Health, Maggie De Block is tasked with tackling obsesity.

And that, say image-obsessed critics, is a joke.

The 52-year-old politician is hugely popular in Belgium, and was once tipped as a future premier.

But she was considered a surprise choice for the job as Health Minister in the new centre-right coalition which has just taken office.

And Maggie – who tips the scales at something over 20 stones – is not exactly setting a good example in a country where obesity is a problem, according to her detractors.

The anti-Maggie charge was led by Tom van de Weghe, a Washington-based correspondent for Belgium's VRT television station.

In a tweet he questioned whether she would be "credible" in her new post.

NOS, a top Dutch TV channel, likened her to a larger-than-life figure from a Rubens painting and said her "obvious corpulence" would cause "sniggering".

poll loading Should Maggie De Block's appearance be an issue regarding her new job? 9000+ VOTES SO FAR No, it's her ability to get the job done that counts It shouldn't be, but it is Yes, she needs to lead by example

But tough Maggie - who practised medicine as a GP for 25 years and knows more about medicine and health issues than anybody else in the cabinet - is used to taking body blows from the snipers.

As Minister for Immigration in the last Belgian government she was the first politician to make a real dent in the migrant problem, slashing the number of asylum requests by almost half, from 27,000 per year to 15,000.

She was unmoved by hunger-strikes and sent in the police to end them and to ensure that expulsion orders were carried out.

"I know I'm not a model but you have to see what's inside, not the packaging," she said.

Maggie's appointment is even making waves in the UK, sparking a mixed response on social media.

Others have blasted the body-bullying fatist fury. Twitterer Greet Jans fumed: "Judge when she does a bad job, no?"