Doctors and health workers are too worried about using
the term "fat," Anne Milton said, but doing so could help encourage
people to take personal responsibility for their lifestyles.
"If I look in the mirror and think I am obese I
think I am less worried (than) if I think I am fat," Milton, a former
nurse, told the BBC. "At the end of the day, you cannot do it for them.
People have to have the information."
The UK has one of the highest obesity rates in Europe,
and the level has been steadily rising over the last 10 years. In 2008, almost
a quarter of adults and 14 percent of children were classified as obese,
according to the Department of Health.
While Steve Field of the Royal College of General
Practitioners welcomed Milton's comments, saying doctors need to be more honest
with patients rather than telling them what they want to hear, some health
groups warned against using the term.
"People don't want to be offensive. There is a lot
of stigma to being a fat person," said Lindsey Davies, president of the UK
Faculty of Public Health, which represents public health professionals.
"Obesity is something that happens to people rather
than something they are."
