To Have Is Not to Be – Flashback

Just back from the 22nd European Congress on Obesity, I could not help but notice that the importance of using people-first language has not quite made it to most people working in this field in Europe (nor for that matter to most people working in obesity anywhere else).

So here is a link to a post on why having obesity and being obese are fundamentally different and that it is high time we dropped the latter. Interestingly, this post was written back in 2008, long before I actually came across the topic of “people-first language”.

Here is what I concluded then:

“Why is this important? When we use terms which have negative connotations like “obesity” it is important that we do not define our patients based on this condition – obesity is not a character trait – it does not define who our patient is – it is something our patient has and is seeking our help to get rid of.”

To read the entire post click here

For more on the proper use of people-first language in obesity click here

@DrSharma
Edmonton, AB