Should we use the word "fat" when talking about the overweight?

Now here is a conversation starter.

I guess this depends on several factors. Personally, and this is Lazza talking - not as HMHB but for himself - I am overweight and losing weight again nicely. I know I have too much fat. It is obvious from my belly, moobs, a couple of chins, and my overall shape. Am I fat?  That's a good question. I am overweight - but not obese. Am I upset if someone were to call me fat? Probably. But I would have to accept they are right, to some extent.  Am I offended? Of course not. In fact, it is a great wake up call and motivation. A great friend once called me "Sumo" - he meant nicely, and I was extremely hurt, but on reflection I was too large.

But some would be offended - and actually have been. Because hundreds of overweight people claim they have been fat-shamed by the NHS. In fact, in the past three years, there have been an incredible 332 complaints from patients across Britain!!  Seriously. I am literally chuckling as I type. What is wrong with these people?

Grievances include being called "cuddly" (aaahh), "stumpy" (that's not a good one), or "massively overweight" (surely that is just stating facts) by hospital staff.  And wait for this. One patient made an official complaint to East London's Barking, Havering and Redbridge Trust after being told she was too big to use a portable loo. And another mum said she was offended to be told by Worcestershire Health and Care Trust staff that her son was too big for a dentist's chair.  Talk about passing responsibility!!!!

It does not help when at a Portsmouth Hospital a consultant was, quite rightly in my point of view, ticked off after telling one large patient "people your size have become an epidemic." There are better ways to phrase things, and there is the mental health issue to address here too.

But the opposite happened here, where astonishingly a doctor at Great Western Hospitals in Wiltshire had to apologise to a patient after pointing out her walking issues were due to her "being fat". Surely he was just telling her the truth. What else was he to say??

At the moment, research shows two in three UK adults are overweight or obese.

The National Obesity Forum have come out and said that health issues related to weight must be made clear - and in the bulk (no pun intended) of the instances it is down to the responsibility of the patient to look at their nutrition and physical activity levels. "That requires plain language and if patients cannot face the truth then so be it," they add.

HMHB says:

It is vital we all start to look after our bodies more. Sedentary lifestyles, fast food, and mounting stress is leading to more people being overweight, and suffering the increasing health issues that surround that.  We need to sit down and look at our behaviour, and stop being offended when people point out our size and shape when overweight. Instead, we need to listen, make changes, and be proactive.  You have one life and one body. Look after it.