Choosing words for weight

Obese. Fat, Overweight. These words bring pain and shame to those so labeled.

"Obese" is a clinical term used to describe someone with excessive body fat tissue who is quite overweight. Because the word "obese" is considered stigmatizing, many weight experts shy away from it, particularly when referring to children and teens. Instead, they tend to use the word "overweight" to describe young people who would be considered medically obese. "At risk for overweight" is a common term for kids whom most people would consider to be overweight or somewhat overweight.

"Fat" has no standard medical definition, but it's commonly used to describe both obese and overweight people. It's preferred by some people who feel that the word "overweight" implies an "ideal" standard, when, in fact, a variety of weights can be healthy for individuals of a particular height.

For lack of a better term, we should generally use "overweight" to describe teens who would be considered medically overweight or obese, as does New York University's Sharron Dalton, Ph D, RD, in her book Our Overweight Children. Terminology aside, the important thing is for each teen to find a weight that's not only healthy for him or her but also realistic and comfortable to maintain.