Oy! Fatty!!

[Gob]

Doctors should stop mincing their words and tell the overweight they are fat, the public health minister said yesterday.

Anne Milton called on the NHS to ban terms such as 'obese', because they do not have the same emotional impact.

The former nurse said larger people were less likely to bother to try to lose weight if they were told they were obese or overweight than if the doctor was blunt and said they were 'fat'. But health experts argued against such plain speaking because they fear it could stigmatise overweight people.

Around a quarter of adults are obese, meaning they are so fat their health is at risk from heart attacks, stroke, diabetes and cancer. Experts warn that if nothing is done, more than half of the population will be obese in 2050, putting a huge strain on the NHS.

Mrs Milton told the BBC that it was important people took ' personal responsibility' for their lifestyles. Speaking in a personal capacity, the public health minister said: 'If I look in the mirror and think I am obese I think I am less worried than if I think I am fat.'

She said she was worried that too many in the NHS feared using the term when dealing with patients. Yet it could, she said, actually encourage personal responsibility.

'At the end of the day you cannot do it for them,' she said. 'People have to have the information.'

But Professor Lindsey Davies, of the Faculty of Public Health, said using the word 'fat' might not be such a good idea. She added that doctors had originally started using the word obesity to encourage patients to think about the condition in a different way.

'Obesity is something that happens to people rather than something they are. The language you use all depends on the relationship you have with a patient.

'I would probably be more likely to say something like "can we talk about your weight" rather than obesity, but that is a judgment you make patient by patient.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... ister.html

[The Hen]

I like the concept. It might just work. It might not work as well and just upset people 'of a larger frame'

[Guinevere]

As someone who has struggled all her life with weight, and had a horrible experience with a physician at an age when he might have helped me, rather than made me feel terrible, I would say no it won't work. The physician has to help the patient figure out why they are overweight, and try to help heal the whole person. Calling someone names isn't productive and I think it can be entirely counterproductive.

[Big RR]

I agree; in fact, all I think it will accomplish is to keep overweight people away from their physicians. Some people might be motivated after a scolding by their physicians, but for most adults I think the opposite is true. By all means a physician should let a person know if their weight is seriously endangering their health, but it should be done in a matter of fact, nonjudgmental way. Name calling accomplishes nothing

[The Hen]

I understand Guin and I also have been a target during my life for my weight. I just get very worried when I read stories such as this one:

Generation XXL - our newest big problem among Australian children


SCHOOL uniforms are getting larger, with some manufacturers now making XXXL shirts for primary students.

While children's weight has been steadily rising, so have clothes sizes, and it's now common for pupils to wear uniforms at least two sizes larger than their age.

The surging waistlines prompted UK retailer Marks & Spencer to launch a plus-size school range including clothes for pre-schoolers with waistlines of up to 50cm - a size usually worn by eight-year-olds.

Australian manufacturers yesterday ruled out a dedicated children's plus-size range but did admit they were seeing a demand for larger kids' clothes.

"We are definitely getting bigger kids," Surrey Clothing director Jenny Pirrota said.

"Whether that's down to obesity or multiculturalism I can't say."

A change in the population is forcing the seams to be let out in some clothes, with some boys of African heritage needing extra long trousers for their height and primary school boys with a Polynesian background needing extra large shirts.

But it's not just bigger uniforms that are in demand

Ms Pirrota, who distributes to Melbourne and Sydney schools, has also had to drop her dress sizes down to a 2 - mainly for those from Asian backgrounds.

But the main trend was for bigger clothes.

"We keep to the same sizes but some manufacturers have had to change their measurements for a size 6 because kids are getting bigger," Ms Pirrota said.

At one uniform supplier, a kindergarten girl was so fat she had to wear a size 16 dress that was then modified.

"It broke my heart," Beleza School Uniforms sales manager Christine Woods said.

"We have an order for a size 32 shirt for a school boy.

"We have never had to make a shirt that big. I had to call the school to check that was right."

The National Heart Foundation chief executive officer Dr Lyn Roberts said she was "deeply disturbed" to hear the reports.

"Kids' dietary habits tend to be set for life by the age of five so it's important good eating habits, as well as being active, are a regular part of every child's life," she said.

"The health consequences of being overweight as a young person are severe."

Wearing a size 16 uniform at age six is tragic. I feel so sorry for the poor bugger, but what can you do? (Other than ensure nothing but healthy options are offered and exercise is made fun? Which is very difficult to do when your 6 year old is so large.)

[Gob]

It's a conundrum, it really is. And not one which will go away.

Hatch is now at the age where looks are VERY important, she's complaining of being fat. (She isn't)

We're emphasisng exercise, and healthy eating, which she is going a long with.

At present her figure is heading towards that of the bird in the other thread (Hendricks?)

I keep telling her that that is the sort of figure, full and fit, rather than skinny and emaciated, which men like.
'
The trouble is all the magazi9nes and TV shows are full of stick insects.

Fortunately, for a long time her hero has been Paulie Perrett of CSI fame.

[Andrew D]

Fat? Obese? Overweight?

My favorite is one used by a (rather rotund) friend of mine: "More generously present."

[Gob]

Salad dodger? Pieabetic?

[loCAtek]

'more to love'

[Guinevere]

In no way am I suggesting ignoring the health effects of obesity, but it is a very very difficult subject and while some measure of "tough love" may be appropriate, that can't be the entire program. The best way to get results, IMHO, is to partner with the patient and work to find out what works best for them. It may take a combination of therapy, nutritional counseling, medical counseling, personal training/supervised exercise, etc. It should be handled like any other disease -- because there is certainly a medical element to much obesity -- and not just yelling at the lazy, slobbering, fatties.

When I was, oh about 13, which is already a difficult age for young females my pediatrician out right yelled at me for my extra curves. At that age, I was devastated and humiliated and so traumatized (I know, hard to imagine *anything*doing that to me -- but hey, I was young and vulnerable back then) I didn't see a physician for at least another 10 years. 10 years where I tried almost every diet on the planet, where I ate grapefruit three times a day, and more cabbage soup than you could stomach --but 10 years where no one helped me get to the underlying reason why I ate. It took another 10 years, and finally some time in therapy, to figure that out. And another 10 years (and more therapy) to learn how to manage it all. And at 43, I have kept my weight stable fora period of years for the first time in my life -- but I struggle to lose the rest of what I've got to lose (in a way I never struggled when I was younger). Oh I'm active and healthy as a horse, I run (slowly), I swim, I bike, I practice yoga. I even enter a road race or a triathlon every now and again, just for the fun of it. But I'm not yet where I want to be(or should be), and its getting more difficult to get there. If I had had a decent caring physician who worked with me productively at 13, maybe I'd be 10 years ahead of the curve.

And we should do everything we can to keep our kids from getting obese. I know the schools are doing a pretty decent job -- my nephews are almost afraid of junk food, and love (at 6 and 4 respectively) things like broccoli and cherries and hummus and carrots and salmon. They are also incredibly active kids -- my sister and BIL have refused to let them have video games and they have strict limits on TV and computer time. So they do what we did as kids -- they PLAY. They use their imagination. They run around. it's wonderful! A little exercise on a daily basis goes a long long way.

[Gob]

Nothing there I can disagree with Guin.