Experts Tell Doctors to Be Blunt, Call Kids Obese

The government and many doctors have avoided using the term obese in regards to children in the name of tact. Instead of saying, "obese" doctors will refer to children that are fat as, "at risk for being overweight" and for those that should actually be classified as obese as "overweight". A committee of medical experts is now saying that doctors need to drop the fuzzy terminology. The committee recommends instead that doctors refer to the truly fat children as overweight or obese.

According to the group, which was convened by the American Medical Association and funded by federal health officials including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the utilization of light and fuzzy terminology in regards to a child's weight problem does not adequately define the problem.

Currently in the U.S. about 17 percent of children are obese and one-third of all children are overweight according to the committee's recommended definitions. Unfortunately, those numbers are on the rise. If a child is overweight or obese, then he or she is at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, high levels of cholesterol, and other ailments that are more commonly found in adults.

The recommendations are guidelines for pediatricians and other medical professionals who work with children. The CDC is going to consider whether or not to adopt the recommendations; the AMA has no plans to endorse them.

A committee spokesperson and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Reginald Washington, said that some doctors have avoided the use of blunt terminology concerning children's weight issues for "fear that we're going to stigmatize children, we're going to take away their self-esteem, we're going to label them."

Indeed, the recommended medical terms cut to the chase, but that does not mean that doctors should be insensitive or use the label in front of every patient. The point being made is that the medical community needs to utilize the correct and accurate medical terminology regarding child's health.

"We need to describe this in medical terms, which is 'obesity'. When we talk to an individual family, we can be a little more cognizant of their feelings and more gentle, but that doesn't mean we can't discuss it," Washington said. "The evidence is clear that we need to bring it up."

Besides more accurately labeling children's weight issues, the committee is also proposing that doctors assess both weight and body mass index at least yearly, in addition to evaluating eating habits and activity levels at all well-child visits.

Out of all of the recommendations, the change in obesity terms is the most controversial. The CDC's division of nutrition and physical activity is still discussing further on whether or not to adopt these terms.

The recommendations have been posted on the American Medical Association's web site as of last week. So far, endorsements for the changes have come in from most of the organizations on the committee, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Dietetic Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American College of Preventive Medicine.

Doctors need to use the correct terminology regarding children's health because being obese puts a child's health at risk for many serious ailments. Out of respect for the children, the terminology does not always need to be utilized in their presence and the topic should always be approached with the utmost sensitivity. In addition to the label, the medical community and caregivers of the children should be monitoring the nutrition and activity level of obese children.