to want a doctor to tell me that I need to lose weight?

[AKMD]

Please? I have regular hospital checkups and I get weighed and measured every time. I see my doctor regularly on related issues. Surely someone should have said that I need to lose a stone by now? Having a medical professional tell me that I'm overweight might actually shock me into doing something about it now rather than wait until I pile on another stone...

I'm a GP and I rarely tell people to lose weight. Various reasons. It's mainly because these days there is so much awareness of weight and healthy eating etc, I assume that anyone who is overweight knows they are overweight, and I would be patronising them by stating the obvious. Also it irritates people, and can have a detrimental effect on the Dr-patient relationship. I generally only mention it if someone moans about a weight-related illness and doesn't mention weight themselves.

It's a very tricky subject. A colleague of mine recently had a nasty complaint made against him for trying to suggest to a patient that her MASSIVELY obese toddler was overweight.

It's a minefield!