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12/17/2008: "Obesity: the "O" word."

Ministers banned the word 'obese' on letters to the parents of fat children - because focus groups did not like it, England's chief medical officer said today.

Professor Liam Donaldson revealed that the term was replaced on letters to parents by 'very overweight' over fears it would upset and stigmatise fat children.

Writing on the BBC News website he said obesity had become a taboo word or an 'O word'.

He recounted a meeting in 2006 which was held to discuss action on obesity. He described it as 'downbeat', with people saying very little.

'After the meeting broke up, one person crept back into the room and whispered to me: "We couldn't talk about it properly because someone obese was in the room",' he recalled.

[ There's no way to solve society's problems without offending some people. There is this hopeless fear of offending those who are causing problems. Aren't they hurting the rest of us though? Aren't they the ones who should be ashamed and apologetic? Really, the obese should be grateful if the problem is dealt with and solutions are found. If they don't like it, then that is the ressentiment of the underman. ]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1096945/The-O-word-The-word-obese-banned-letters-parents-fat-children-case-upsets-them.html