How to talk to teens about their weight
Don't use words like curvy, large or obese
5th April 2018
Whatever you do, don’t use words like curvy, large and obese when talking to adolescent patients about their body weight.
But they don't mind if you tell them they are chubby or have a weight problem.
These are the main takeaways from a survey of adolescents attending a weight-loss camp in the US.
The researchers' aim was to identify weight‐based language preferences among youth with overweight and obesity.
Terms such as extremely obese, curvy, fat, heavy and large were disliked by at least 40% of those surveyed.