UK to do away with the word "obese" in healthcare

Elizabeth_C34
Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
edited December 19 in Health and Weight Loss
This is just crazy to me: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9252311/Obesity-a-derogatory-word-says-Nice.html

When I stared in 2010, I was quite obese with a BMI of 34. Realizing this was my wake-up call that shocked me out of denial and into living better and being healthier. I don't understand what doing away with the terminology is going to do for any obese person other than continue to feed into their denial about their weight and continue to support a society that is all about avoiding hurt feelings instead of encouraging better living. The term "obese" is a medical term, not a derogatory one.

Ugh...
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Replies

  • bradthemedic
    bradthemedic Posts: 623 Member
    Welcome to the UK. Taking PC to completely unreal levels.
  • jleach
    jleach Posts: 38 Member
    I have to agree. If they do away with one word, they'll just have to come up with another to replace it.
  • KaleidoscopeEyes1056
    KaleidoscopeEyes1056 Posts: 2,996 Member
    Haha, I am subscribed to this news source because of my political science class!

    Anyway. I don't think obese should be a derogatory term. It's a medical term, and I think it should still be used.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I have to agree. If they do away with one word, they'll just have to come up with another to replace it.

    According to the article, they are simply going to ask doctors to encourage obese patients to "get to a healthier weight."
  • BondBomb
    BondBomb Posts: 1,781 Member
    I have to agree. If they do away with one word, they'll just have to come up with another to replace it.

    According to the article, they are simply going to ask doctors to encourage obese patients to "get to a healthier weight."
    I can just imagine the doctors notes.
    'Patient is of a large circumference. Extreme level of girth has been reached and therefore patient needs to get to a healthier weight'.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I have to agree. If they do away with one word, they'll just have to come up with another to replace it.

    According to the article, they are simply going to ask doctors to encourage obese patients to "get to a healthier weight."
    I can just imagine the doctors notes.
    'Patient is of a large circumference. Extreme level of girth has been reached and therefore patient needs to get to a healthier weight'.

    EXACTLY. That sounds much more derogatory than "obese."
  • 1shauna1
    1shauna1 Posts: 993 Member
    I agree when used properly, the term obese is a medical term. And, honestly I think most people who are that big (myself included here!) actually do know somewhere inside that they ARE that big and it's not healthy. As many people here have mentioned, hearing that term applied to them has been the wake up call they needed to get healthy. There is such a thing as TOO p.c.!
  • stargazer008
    stargazer008 Posts: 531
    Next they'll be like calling a diabetic a diabetic is offensive. Come on, obesity is a medical term.
  • KaleidoscopeEyes1056
    KaleidoscopeEyes1056 Posts: 2,996 Member
    I have to agree. If they do away with one word, they'll just have to come up with another to replace it.

    According to the article, they are simply going to ask doctors to encourage obese patients to "get to a healthier weight."

    Being somebody who "needs to get to a healthier weight," I think hearing that I am obese would have more of an effect on me. I mean, when I was just overweight, I needed to get to a healthier weight, but hearing "obese" would make me serious about losing weight.
  • InTenn
    InTenn Posts: 99
    "Mentally Retarded" was once a valid term as well, and had a real meaning. Now there are campaigns to stamp out the word. Anything can get bastardized in usage. And there is always someone waiting to claim offense.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    "Mentally Retarded" was once a valid term as well, and had a real meaning. Now there are campaigns to stamp out the word. Anything can get bastardized in usage. And there is always someone waiting to claim offense.

    I agree. The word "retarded" has become derogatory in slang language, so I can see the point there, but not with the term "obese" really. I rarely hear of the word "obese" being used in a derogatory fashion.
  • katydid25
    katydid25 Posts: 199 Member
    Have to say I agree!! My wake up call didn't come until my BMI was 30.6 and was told I was obese. That term was more than enough for me to get moving and start dropping the weight!!
    "Mentally Retarded" was once a valid term as well, and had a real meaning. Now there are campaigns to stamp out the word. Anything can get bastardized in usage. And there is always someone waiting to claim offense.

    This is also an excellent point to make. I wonder what term will replace 'Obese?' Weightly handicapped?
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    "Dude quit acting so obese".


    Yeah, I don't think it works.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    Have to say I agree!! My wake up call didn't come until my BMI was 30.6 and was told I was obese. That term was more than enough for me to get moving and start dropping the weight!!
    "Mentally Retarded" was once a valid term as well, and had a real meaning. Now there are campaigns to stamp out the word. Anything can get bastardized in usage. And there is always someone waiting to claim offense.

    This is also an excellent point to make. I wonder what term will replace 'Obese?' Weightly handicapped?

    The article said they would encourage doctors to use the phrase "you should get to a healthier weight" instead of "you are obese." I suppose they could use it in charting?? Not sure.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    What's the current term they use for clinically underweight people?

    Nobese?
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    What's the current term they use for clinically underweight people?

    Nobese?

    I suppose "underweight"??? I dunno...

    Nobese would work though.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    You kick *kitten*, by the way.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    You kick *kitten*, by the way.

    I take names too. :wink:
  • jkleon86
    jkleon86 Posts: 245 Member
    This is just crazy to me: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9252311/Obesity-a-derogatory-word-says-Nice.html

    When I stared in 2010, I was quite obese with a BMI of 34. Realizing this was my wake-up call that shocked me out of denial and into living better and being healthier. I don't understand what doing away with the terminology is going to do for any obese person other than continue to feed into their denial about their weight and continue to support a society that is all about avoiding hurt feelings instead of encouraging better living. The term "obese" is a medical term, not a derogatory one.

    Ugh...

    That is just like the sizes in clothing, I have a pair of jeans from before I was married that are size 11/12 28 years ago but when comparing them to a pair of size 6 that my daughter use to wear they are about the same size. Head games are not healthy.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    This is just crazy to me: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9252311/Obesity-a-derogatory-word-says-Nice.html

    When I stared in 2010, I was quite obese with a BMI of 34. Realizing this was my wake-up call that shocked me out of denial and into living better and being healthier. I don't understand what doing away with the terminology is going to do for any obese person other than continue to feed into their denial about their weight and continue to support a society that is all about avoiding hurt feelings instead of encouraging better living. The term "obese" is a medical term, not a derogatory one.

    Ugh...

    That is just like the sizes in clothing, I have a pair of jeans from before I was married that are size 11/12 28 years ago but when comparing them to a pair of size 6 that my daughter use to wear they are about the same size. Head games are not healthy.

    Vanity sizing is a serious problem too. Totally with you there.
  • selfishshellfish
    selfishshellfish Posts: 97
    Well, most hospitals and primary care people here seem to use the term 'bariatric' nowadays anyway.

    I will say this in defence of the idea: if the term 'obese' provokes a shame response in patients then its use may well be counterproductive. For a lot of people (yes, me included) being shamed tends to correlate with denial and defensive avoidance rather than constructive action.

    Having said all that, my real bugbear is the prefix 'clinically' which is often used incorrectly to add spurious authority to the term 'obese'.
  • muppetsbear
    muppetsbear Posts: 80 Member
    The words "morbidly obese" written on a health form written by my Dr said a lot more to me than you need to loose weight. I just saw my self as fat or overweight.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    The words "morbidly obese" written on a health form written by my Dr said a lot more to me than you need to loose weight. I just saw my self as fat or overweight.

    EXACTLY the same response I had. I was mortified being "obese."
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
    All of this PC nonsense is just getting way out of hand. Next thing you know They will be insisting that everyone refrain from using the word hair so as to not offend the bald.
  • LilRiver
    LilRiver Posts: 81 Member
    What gets me, more than anything, is the picture used in the article. In all articles talking about obesity, really.

    That has done a lot to "damage" the word, imo. I'm not saying the word isn't useful - it clearly is, especially in a medical setting. But people who are obese don't think they are because when you hear the word you think it only applies to people such in the picture. So, then, when a doctor says "You're obese." it's this huge scary shock.

    Relative merits of BMI aside, obese is any BMI over 30. That woman looks to have a BMI over 45 which is morbid obesity or, even, super obesity.

    If people actually understood what obese meant (at my height it's 170lbs or somewhere in the size 12-14 range), there would not only be less shock when they're told they are obese, but I bet there'd be a heck of a lot less fat-shaming because, guess what, those scary news articles about how the obese are going to destroy the health care system and make countries go bankrupt (or whatever) probably includes a lot of those doing the shaming. (and shaming... does not help! especially for the emotional eaters or those whose weight is related to their depression).

    It's stupid to get rid of the word, but unless it's used accurately, it's relatively meaningless.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    What gets me, more than anything, is the picture used in the article. In all articles talking about obesity, really.

    That has done a lot to "damage" the word, imo. I'm not saying the word isn't useful - it clearly is, especially in a medical setting. But people who are obese don't think they are because when you hear the word you think it only applies to people such in the picture. So, then, when a doctor says "You're obese." it's this huge scary shock.

    Relative merits of BMI aside, obese is any BMI over 30. That woman looks to have a BMI over 45 which is morbid obesity or, even, super obesity.

    TOTALLY agree with you there. I have a friend who is 5'7" and 260 lbs. Her BMI is 41. Because she doesn't look like the woman in the picture, she keeps thinking she's not obese..
    If people actually understood what obese meant (at my height it's 170lbs or somewhere in the size 12-14 range), there would not only be less shock when they're told they are obese, but I bet there'd be a heck of a lot less fat-shaming because, guess what, those scary news articles about how the obese are going to destroy the health care system and make countries go bankrupt (or whatever) probably includes a lot of those doing the shaming. (and shaming... does not help! especially for the emotional eaters or those whose weight is related to their depression).

    Not sure about the size 12-14. I'm a size 12/14, and overweight but not obese (BMI of 27 now).

    It's stupid to get rid of the word, but unless it's used accurately, it's relatively meaningless.

    Totally agree. Good points!
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
    Next they'll be like calling a diabetic a diabetic is offensive. Come on, obesity is a medical term.

    In healthcare settings, it is now "person first" terminology. So calling someone "a diabetic" is indeed offensive. They are a "person with diabetes".

    So maybe they can just not say "obese person" but "person who suffers from obesity"

    Or everyone can take their heads out of their *kitten* and get over this PC nonsense. No matter how it's said, fat is fat. A nicer word isn't going to ward off heart disease or diabetes.
  • LilRiver
    LilRiver Posts: 81 Member
    Not sure about the size 12-14. I'm a size 12/14, and overweight but not obese (BMI of 27 now).

    I'm a shortie (5'3) - so 170 puts me into a 14 and the occasional12. Of course, that's 100 lbs and many sizes from where I started and another 65 to get there. So I could be wrong, but it seems about right.

    (and 'grats on losing the "obese" status!)
  • BandedTriaRN
    BandedTriaRN Posts: 303
    Obese isn't a bad word. Geez, my Mom called me "Fat Lard" as a child... pretty soon I am moving into the USA official "overweight" category. Down from Morbidly obese and obese...
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    Not sure about the size 12-14. I'm a size 12/14, and overweight but not obese (BMI of 27 now).

    I'm a shortie (5'3) - so 170 puts me into a 14 and the occasional12. Of course, that's 100 lbs and many sizes from where I started and another 65 to get there. So I could be wrong, but it seems about right.

    (and 'grats on losing the "obese" status!)

    Thanks!

    Sizing is weird. I'm 178 and a size 12/14, but I know women who are the same height as me who are a size 16/18 at the same weight. So confusing! :)
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