In the 1980s, the concept of “person-first language” developed among disability advocacy groups.

Non-profit organizations, such as the Obesity Action Coalition have expanded advocacy for people-first language to obesity. As of 2017, five U.S. medical societies had pledged for it, and use it in their communications, among them: the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, The Obesity Society, and American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

Labeling individuals as obese creates negative feelings toward individuals with obesity and perpetuates weight-bias.

Quite often, one will see news stories, articles, and journal entries refer to an individual with obesity as “obese.” For example, I found this Wikipedia article on Carol Yager:

Carol Ann Yager was one of the most severely obese people in history, and the heaviest woman ever recorded. In January 1993, Yager was admitted to Hurley Medical Center, weighing-in at 1,128 lb (512 kg). As is common with many severely obese patients, Yager was not able to stand or walk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Yager (Yes, one point of the article on Carol Yager is to focus on how many pounds she weighed, but the article also reveals weight-bias with its wording. Maybe to some, it seems like yet another attempt to be overly-politically correct, but really... how much effort does it take to use people-first language?

https://radicalcopyeditor.com/2017/07/03/person-centered-language/

https://www.obesityaction.org/action-through-advocacy/weight-bias/people-first-language/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People-first_language

The goal of people-first language is to stop dehumanizing individuals by labeling them with their disease.

Edited July 21, 20188 yr by Missouri-Lee's Summit

I tell ya, those pesky insurance folks are annoying! There should be workshops to teach others how to be their own patient advocates.