Calling doctors fat won't make anyone thinner

Obesity. Everyone’s talking about it. It’s bad. Gives you diabetes, heart disease, and it makes you fat. And if you’re a newspaper, the chief executive of NHS England will tell you that it renders healthcare professionals less capable of doing their jobs. ‘Fat docs ordered to slim by NHS Chief’ cried the Sun. I didn’t get the memo. He actually told the papers, not the people. But let’s forget about just how insulting that is. Let’s forget that obesity is part of a big lifestyle puzzle, and it’s activity and nutrition doctors should be promoting, not just weight loss. Let’s say he came to us with the suggestion that we should set an example to our patients by demonstrating the healthy lifestyles we advocate. Is that so bad? It’s certainly one of the ideas that motivated me to try and fix my own weight problems, with mixed results.