Council bans the word 'obesity' to save children's blushes
These days it's hard to switch on the TV or open a newspaper without the word obesity being mentioned. But one council could take political correctness to a whole new level and decide to ban the word altogether.
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Liverpool City Council are considering dropping the word from all local authority schemes after 90 pupils at the Liverpool Schools' Parliament scheme suggested that the term would be offensive to fat children. Parents and health experts alike have condemned the proposal, insisting that the "stigma" attached to the word might just give overweight kids a little motivation.
Tam Fry from obesity prevention charity the Child Growth Foundation, told the Daily Mail: "If you're obese you're obese. I can see where the children are coming from and the word carries a stigmatisation but unfortunately sometimes schoolchildren have to be taught the realities of life."
Liverpool Council insist that they are only considering the pupils' suggestions "with a view" to putting them into practice, but already an alternative term - "unhealthy weight" - has been bandied around.
Jeff Dunn, who co-ordinated the Liverpool Schools' Parliament, explained: "The idea is that obesity has a negative connotation behind it. They felt unhealthy weight is more positive and a better way to promote it. The term 'obese' would turn people off, particularly young people."
Of course, whether an "unhealthy weight" should be viewed as positive is another matter. And surely the word "obese" would be preferable to some of the names that schoolchildren can come up with on their own?
Let us know what you think. Is this political correctness gone mad or is it time the word obesity was destigmatised?
