Do some doctors just get a kick out of telling you to lose weight?

I've never been overweight so I don't get the lose weight solution to every single one of my medical problems.

I get every single medical issue blamed on anxiety instead.

You can't win!

When I was 3 stone heavier, my weight was never mentioned. Now that my BMI is 25, I got a huge lecture about losing weight. Not that I was actually weighed at all, it seemed like the doctor just eyeballed it.

It's annoying to be told that losing weight is the answer to everything, as it really isn't. But I don't get why the weight of the medical professional giving advice is relevant. Losing weight is really hard for a lot of people. If anything, I think they'd be more empathetic and they'd have a better understanding of weightloss.
Some of the ways pps have reacted to medical professionals are so rude and unkind. Basically implying that they shouldn't be doing their job because they're fat.

Why did she weigh you? I've never been weighed apart from check in for pregnancy

What an illuminating comment, thank you.

That's not true.

The NHS is totally obsessed with weight and treat is as a personal failing. They have little to no understanding of weight as a function of health and their main tactic is to continually tell people to do things they clearly can't do. Obviously it doesn't work.

Interestingly, my DH's family and consequently my daughter struggle with being underweight. They treat that as an actual health issue and investigate it. They still don't know what to do, but they don't blame the patient, strangely enough.

It’s their job to talk to you about it

Good for you. Putting an underpaid medical professional 'in her place' (wherever that may be) for simply doing her job. What a clever person you are. 👏👏👏

Really? Obesity causes more cancer. But is that because smoking is so unusual now?

Biggest ways to prevent cancer are obesity and not smoking

Read again, was my DIL describing the scene 🙄

Charming language.

I hope you don't use it around your grandchild.

Remember when my tiny sparrow DIL told me a nurse came into lecture the eight bed ward about losing weight post baby weight. All the mothers were very slender. The nurse was an oompah lumpah as wide as she was tall. DIL size 6 struggled not to giggle.

I was annoyed that mine told me well done for maintaining my weight for 10 years though I have a fat waist. I actually need a kick up my (lardy) bum to do it.

Spot on ! How can a lawyer even begin to think they can compare their work to that of an NHS doctor !

In that case, he only needed to actually listen to what the OP had told him 10 seconds before. He didn’t need more time to dig out new information! Just to take into account what he’d been told.

I would have asked him why he thought all the weight I had just lost wasn’t enough. And then wait….

Not listening or blindly following a script on a screen are not good enough reasons. If it’s the best a GP can do, then AI can do better. At least, it listens.

I bet you've got more than 10 minutes to listen and personalise your approach.
That 10 minutes includes his time to type up your records and arrange any further tests/referrals you might need.
It IS a tick box exercise... because that's how Primary Care is funded.
No box ticked- no QoF point - no money- no staff- no appointments.

Fair, but then so many people are so upset at themselves over their own weight, it can skew their perspective a bit.

Like the OP for example getting it in her head that some doctors 'get a kick' out of telling people they need to lose weight, and bringing the doctor's weight into it like it's got anything at all to do with the OP or her health.

If all nurses and doctors lost weight tomorrow, it wouldn't cut down on the heart attacks, diabetes or other ailments of their patients.

In fact we'd probably be hearing, "Doctors and nursers don't understand because they're all so slim".

Perhaps they were trying to encourage you.

Years ago the Dr told me to watch my weight, I was thin & he’d already told me previously when I asked if my weight was OK that it was. So I told him it wasn’t me that was thin, it was him that was fat. He looked quite shocked, fingered his tie, shuffled in his chair, & tried to uncomfortably laugh it off. I was meno, which of course was no joke.

I would say that there are so many tick boxes including weight for several reasons - one is accountability. The doctor has then " discussed" this with you and as per the timeline laid down by the NHS. This is to try to ensure some consistency across the NHS regardless of who you see and to cover themselves from people who claim they didn't get consulted about this. You can't expect a GP to praise you for some weight loss. His or her own size is irrelevant.

I think it’s the insufferable tone some nurses use that a lot of people have an issue with

A nurse once used that tone on me (not related to weight) and I quickly put her in her place

I've often said that as a woman, I could attend with an arm hanging off and I'd be a)asked for a pregnancy test to be completed or b)told to lose weight.

It's incredibly lazy of them but it seems it's part of the gender pain gap.

I went in for help with constant neck pain from an injury. A nurse was available so I saw her. No word of a lie and I don't want to be mean, but she was about 20 plus stone, so large she was wearing track pants and a t shirt. She genuinely told me that my neck would be better if I lost two stone. My BMI is fine. I have big boobs! I'm curvy. But she was huge compared to me!

I suggested that my pain was caused by an old injury flaring up. She carried on going on about weight and then said she felt I may benefit from speaking to a counsellor as I seemed "annoyed" and "stressed" and I looked "disheveled" (I was wearing clean jeans, a t-shirt and a denim jacket with vintage trainers, hair was washed and brushed, make up on).

That was the final straw for me and I said "coming from someone not even wearing an actual nursing uniform and trackie bottoms I think you have a cheek."

When I left I was clearly upset and the lady on the desk asked what happened, she commented that someone in her position was totally out of order, she then fitted me in to see the GP who gave me painkillers and made a referral to physio.

If they at any point during the appointment, claimed that 'losing weight is easy', then yes I agree.

But since I really can't imagine any medical professional saying that, I maintain that their bodies make no difference to the health of anyone else's.