Obesity - Should Gps Just Tell People " You Are Fat "

[sunny-dave]

An interesting article :

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9049971/the-battle-of-the-bulge/?utm_source=feedly

What do you think?

[Purple_Popple]

Emmie that is what I would say if I were a GP to the odd rotund patient ;)

[redman41]

You know you're getting fat when you sit in your bath and the water in the toilet rises.....!

[emmie]

some docs need to take their own advice

[pixie373]

"fat" seems unnecessary, but"overweight" is an accurate description. Some people are definitely in denial and probably do need to be told for health reasons. My friend was insulted that a nurse told her she was "obese". I was stunned that she hadn't already realised that. She also criticised the nurse's weight, but that neither affects my friend's health, nor makes the nurse wrong.

[emmie]

sorry pixie, the nurse i saw was fat, most definitely over the 20 stone mark, she could hardly walk, and some people i see around are well and truly morbidly obese.

[pixie373]

I do agree, emmie. It is a word i use, although I'm not sure it's the correct medical term for a doctor to use.

[lcg]

i am bluntly honest with my patients.....and quite often the first person in a long while to be so. it clarifies the situation and enables patients to participate in the care process more openly and better informed. i do not see much point in beating around the proverbial bush or dressing things up. most people want clear, honest and simple info regarding their health care.

[emmie]

they do though, its to stop people getting heart disease, diabetes, and more, sometimes the shock value is enough. But i have to say the times i have gone to hospital, you see patients outside hooked up to machines for whatever type medication, puffing away on their cigs like no tomorrow. madness.

[jd_1984]

When you hear the word "disease" you understandibly conclude that you are suffering with a condition that you could not have avoided, it is just bad luck or unfortunate circumstances. But can we divide "disease" into 2 categories ones that are just "bad luck" and ones that you have contributed to with the lifestyle that you have lived?? Obviously the answer is NO.
I do understand the frustration by many that obese people (80% have probably got themselves there through greed and laziness) and if people like that are straining the resources of the NHS meaning people are not receiving the treatment that they deserve........ It is a mine field of an issue!!

[emmie]

icg, i totally agree.

[lcg]

p.s. i would also use the term overweight and would offer to discuss the effects of being so....and in terms of their overall health and meds taken etc.

[pixie373]

Obesity is different though, because you have to deliberately and directly cause it yourself. It isn't an unfortunate, unpredictable side-effect of something else. Food isn't addictive, so there are no reasons to continue to overeat.

[emmie]

some illnesses can be inherited, that's just plainly unlucky, some are self inflicted by smoking, it's a known killer. then too much fat in the diet, too many takeaways and sugary drinks, very addictive as we know. and stress, work takes it toll and if you are like my o/h was, a workaholic, add in bad diet, plus stupidly ignoring the warning signs, then away you go.

you can also drop dead having lived a blameless, clean life,
bit of a bummer that
one of the unhealthiest people i knew was an athlete, illness dogged him, He got colds and bugs so often, his immune system never seemed to cope with his diet, and training regime.

[emmie]

some medications can indeed put weight on, some have side effects that make it hard to shift...

[Mamyalynne]

I always find these discussions a bit difficult never having been overweight (occasionally the other way round for me).I do have other bad habits that my GP mentions every visit though.

However I feel a Doctor should be able to discuss the patient's problems without being rude but by being direct and pointing out the dangers of their ways. Offering help and guidance too if needed.

[emmie]

i think some are just naturally brusque, no nonsense, others can be more gentle, generally i think the softly softly approach can be just as effective.

[woofgang]

Having read the article, there are big holes in it. None of the diet meds, operations yadda yadda work without intake reduction, yet it doesn't seem that the doc in question pointed this out. If the GP didn't do the patient the courtesy of looking at what the patient had brought and was rude enough to 'roll his eyes" at the GP trainee in a consultation, then had I been the patient, I wouldn't have stormed out in disgust but given him a short sharp lecture in professional behaviour and good manners.
I suspect that the GP in question and the episode are both figments of the author's imagination or, at very least, "misremembered".