This is just . . . weird

[pegkerr]

Doctor in trouble for calling woman obese.

The story doesn't say exactly how he phrased what he said to her. I gotta think there is more to the story here.

It makes me think of that term Berke Breathed coined: "Offensensitivity."

Comments

[megd.livejournal.com]

It's not he thought she was obese. It's not a judgement, it's a medical formula. And she was an exeisting patient.

Also, her BMI was (based on the 5'7" and 250) 39.2. She has diabetes, borderline hyper tension, esophageal reflux. And had been told by other doctors she's obese. She just didn't want to listen.

[pameladean]

Why the hell should she listen? Dieting doesn't work. Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers (the programs he recommended, with the comfortable comment that there were "lots" of them out there) -- they don't work in the long run. And they're horrible for one's frame of mind. I personally would rather die than ever go through another one of those stupid useless programs with their adherence to the ickiest ideas about bodies and femininity that our culture affords, which is saying a lot.

P.

[ex-radparker580.livejournal.com]

And yet some people manage to lose weight.

[pameladean]

Oh, sure, I've managed to lose weight myself. Repeatedly. Almost any crazy regimen will work in the short run. But very little works in the long run on most people.

P.

[faeryguinevere.livejournal.com]

"Dieting" doesn't work, but changing one's diet and lifestyle permanently to a healthy one often does. If nothing else, it at least improves one's health, if not changing one's weight.

[pameladean]

Sure. If that doctor had recommended the Health at Any Size program instead of Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, I'd be having a different response.

P.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Nothing in the article Peg linked to has that information. Information about her health history cannot, as I understand HIPPA, be released without her consent.

As for "medical forula" and BMI, these objective measurements are totally arbitrary. I plugged my measurements into the CDC's BMI calculator (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm) and got 29.7 meaning I'm "overweight" and nearly "obese." If I were to gain five pounds I'd be nicely in "obese" territory (30.3). I'm a skinny guy with a bit of a beer belly. If someone told me I needed to lose weight, I'd laugh in their face.

She just didn't want to listen.

I suspect that she'd heard that same information more than enough. From doctors, family members, even well-meaning strangers. Not to mention the cruel ones who laugh or give her dirty looks because she dares to pick up a carton of sugar-free ice cream or whatever. Or the constant barrage of advertising and other media that says you're worthless if you don't fit into some narrowly defined vision of what a woman should look like. If anyone didn't want to listen, it was probably the doctor who didn't want to listen to her.

[megd.livejournal.com]

Actually, Peg's article linked to the interview he gave today.

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

I can't view the live interview but if he publicly discussed her medical history without her permission, he's opened the HIPPA can of worms all over the place.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

Even if she has all those physical problems, "your obesity will kill you" is still plain wrong. Obese people do manage good diabetic control, with medication, nutrition, and exercise, while still being obese; and I know hypertension and esophageal reflux can be treated medically. If he meant, "You are not controlling you diabetes," or whatever, he should have said it exactly that way. He was fear-monering, which is never a good motivator over the long term (short-term, yes), and making an exaggerated and unprofessional statement about her health. And then the comment about her love life was unprofessional, uncalled for, and untrue. As far as I can see, the problem was not that he dared say she was obese (which I'm sre she knew), but the way he said it.