Experts Debate Labeling Children Obese

Is it OK for doctors and parents to tell children and teens they're fat? That seems to be at the heart of a debate over whether to replace the fuzzy language favored by the U.

S. government with the painful truth telling kids if they're obese or overweight. …

The diplomatic approach adopted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and used by many doctors avoids the word "obese" because of the stigma. The CDC also calls overweight kids "at risk of overweight." …

Those favoring a change say the current terms encourage denial of a problem affecting increasing numbers of U.S. youngsters. …

Under a proposal studied by a committee of the American Medical Association, the CDC and others, fat children would get the same labels as adults overweight or obese.

The change "would certainly make sense. It would bring the U.S. in line with the rest of the world," said Professor Tim Cole [UCL Institute of Child Health].

The existing categories are convoluted and "rather ironic, since the U.S. leads the world in terms of obesity," Cole said. "There must be an element of political correctness." …

Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press Online