Why Don't We Just Call People Fat?
To some people the word obesity just means fat. So why don't we just call people fat? Well, for one reason, calling someone fat is not very nice. Overweight, is a much better word to use but the problem is that overweight can mean a little overweight or a lot overweight. We still haven't been very nice to lump people with a few extra pounds, say, 3 pounds overweight, with people who are 40 pounds overweight. So how do we identify someone who has gained just a few pounds from someone who has gained more weight? Doctors wanted a way to let people know when their weight became a health issue so they determined that they needed a word to make that clear. So someone who was "out of shape" and a little overweight was different than someone who had a health risk by being a lot overweight. So they decided to classify those people whose weight was clearly a health concern as obese. Only to have obesity become one of the major health concerns today In ...