News

Call them fat, says minister

July 30, 2010 Edition 1

LONDON: Calling people fat rather than obese would be more likely to motivate them to lose weight, Britain’s public health minister told the BBC.

Doctors and health workers were too worried about using the term “fat”, Anne Milton said, but doing so could help encourage people to take 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,” the former nurse said. “At the end of the day people have to have the information.”

Britain has one of the highest obesity rates in Europe, and the level has been rising over the past 10 years.

In 2008, almost a quarter of adults and 14 percent of children were classified obese, according to the Health Department. – Reuters