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Being correct about obesity

Timothy A Welborn and Satvinder S Dhaliwal
Med J Aust 2011; 194 (8): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2011.tb03047.x
Published online: 18 April 2011

To the Editor: Van Der Weyden states that “obesity” has negative connotations and the capacity to stigmatise.1 “Intending to give minimal offence and shifting the focus from the person to the condition”, people substitute politically correct terms.1


  • 1 Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, WA.
  • 2 School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA.


Correspondence: s.dhaliwal@curtin.edu.au

  • 1. Van Der Weyden M. Politically correct medicine [editorial]. Med J Aust 2011; 194: 9. <MJA full text>
  • 2. Adams TD, Gress RE, Smith SC, et al. Long-term mortality after gastric bypass surgery. N Engl J Med 2007; 357: 753-761.
  • 3. Welborn TA, Dhaliwal SS, Bennett SA. Waist–hip ratio is the dominant risk factor predicting cardiovascular death in Australia. Med J Aust 2003; 179: 580-585. <MJA full text>
  • 4. Dhaliwal SS, Welborn TA. Measurement error and ethnic comparisons of measures of abdominal obesity. Prev Med 2009; 49: 148-152.
  • 5. Dhaliwal SS, Welborn TA. Central obesity and cigarette smoking are key determinants of cardiovascular disease deaths in Australia: a public health perspective. Prev Med 2009; 49: 153-157.
  • 6. Medicare Australia. Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule item reports. https://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/statistics/pbs_item.shtml (accessed Feb 2010).
  • 7. Saris WHM, Blair SN, van Baak MA, et al. How much physical activity is enough to prevent unhealthy weight gain? Outcome of the IASO 1st Stock Conference and consensus statement. Obes Rev 2003; 4: 101-114.
  • 8. Blair SNB, LaMonte MJ. Physical activity, fitness and mortality rates. In: Bouchard C, Blair SN, Haskell WL, editors. Physical activity and health. Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics, 2007: 143-159.
  • 9. Onishi N. Japan, seeking trim waists, measures millions. New York Times 2008; 13 Jun. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/asia/13fat.html (accessed Mar 2011).

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