Raven-Symoné Says Being Fat-Shamed Growing up Gave Her 'Mental Issues'

Whether you know Raven-Symoné from her time on The View or you've been a fan since The Cosby Show and That's So Raven days, you know she's one to speak her mind.

The 31-year-old former Disney Channel kid told PEOPLE Now that growing up in the '90s and early 2000s was tough, and that she wishes she grew up in a more body-positive era.

"I wish I was living now as a younger person," Raven says. "I probably wouldn't have so many mental issues."

The star of the new That's So Raven spin-off, Raven's Home, even said that people would fat-shame her to her face.

"[They said] I was too big to be doing an hour and a half concert. 'I don't know how she can dance being that big.' And I was like, 'I still did it!'" she said. "I was on tour forever because it's not about your size, it's about what you have to say, if you can sing or dance, and performing. It's not about your size."

Raven, who said that she was told to watch what she ate even at age 7 on The Cosby Show, says that today's culture is more accepting than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

"I love embracing your body," she said. "In this day and age you have all kinds, and it's funny, it's serious, it's every color, it's every head shape, it's every hair. And there's androgyny, and there's LGBT coming in, and it feels good. We didn't have it enough last time and I guess that's what the past is for — to make sure the present is what it needs to be."

She added that it's important to "break the mold" when it comes to diversity being portrayed in media.

"The world is too big to have one sort of view to show beauty, because then you are literally destroying society," she says. "You are literally destroying it. And then you want to talk about how we are judgmental to each other and this and this. But it's being created in the industry that we're in. So why not break the mold?"

Photo Credit: Instagram / @ravensymone