"Today, to be a 'person with obesity' is to be seen as diseased, regardless of overall health status and health-related behaviours."

Carrie Dennett

Why we must stop fat shaming, weight bias, and discrimination against people with obesity

• Obesity is wrongly regarded as a failing rather than a consequence of environment
• This stigma creates barriers to health care, as overweight people are less likely to return for treatment

"As with most health professionals who seek to avoid contributing to weight stigma, the authors use – and encourage – person-first language, pointing out that 'an obese person' is an identity that suggests personal responsibility (again, unfairly, because many factors determine body weight), whereas “a person with obesity” is a person with a disease.

Trouble is, person-first language ignores that the word 'obesity' is loaded with stigma no matter how you use it in a sentence. This is despite – or perhaps because of – the American Medical Association’s 2013 decision to classify obesity as a disease, going against the recommendations of its own Council on Science and Public Health. Today, to be a 'person with obesity' is to be seen as diseased, regardless of overall health status and health-related behaviours."