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Piers Morgan criticises row over GCSE paper said to 'trigger' eating disorders

Piers Morgan has waded into a row over a GCSE Maths question which asked schoolchildren to count calories.

Exam board Pearson Edexcel was forced to defend a question featured in its paper, which candidates sat last week, after one pupil left the room while the assessment was in process.

The question read: “There are 84 calories in 100g of banana. There are 87 calories in 100g of yogurt. Priti has 60g of banana and 150g of yogurt for breakfast.

“Work out the total number of calories in this breakfast.”

Piers Morgan says the country has gone "bonkers" over the GCSE maths debate. [Photo: Getty]
Piers Morgan says the country has gone "bonkers" over the GCSE maths debate. [Photo: ITV]

A person complained on social media that her sister had to leave the exam hall because the question triggered her eating disorder, reported TES.

READ MORE: Piers Morgan claims women with hairy armpits are unattractive

The exam board has since responded, saying it has reviewed the issue and still finds the question “valid”.

They have urged any individual students who thought the question affected their exam performance to get in touch.

Now, the outspoken ‘Good Morning Britain’ host has left us in no doubt as to his feelings on the subject.

“We should no longer be allowed to ask a question which includes the word calorie because it might trigger people’s mental health disorders? This country is going completely bonkers,” he said on this morning’s show.

“It’s nonsense,” he added.

His fellow host, Susanna Reid, responded: “I think her point is we should care about people with eating disorders who get upset about stuff.”

READ MORE: Anorexic woman says eating a single chocolate saved her life

But Morgan had no time for this standpoint.

“No, we don’t rewrite the entire maths paper which has a perfectly reasonable question because someone might have a trigger moment,” he concluded.

Several people have echoed Morgan’s views on Twitter, with some calling the offended parties “snowflakes” – a derogatory term to describe people who are emotional, easily-offended and unable to deal with opposing opinions.

Others argued the question was inappropriate and should not have been featured.

Several people who weighed in had direct or indirect experience of eating disorders, and reinforced the idea of calories as a “trigger”.

Morgan invites controversy on a regular basis through his TV appearances, most recently reigniting his obesity row with plus size model Tess Holliday after the magazine cover she appeared on last year received an award nomination.

Earlier this month, he also hit out at a defiant David Beckham for sharing another video of himself kissing his daughter Harper on the lips.

If you or anyone you know is suffering from an eating disorder, you can seek help on the BEAT website.