keryx | morbid

You're viewing

keryx's journal
Create a Dreamwidth Account Learn More

Reload page in style: site light

When you see the phrase "morbid obesity", what do you think it means?

I think, from the language that I see many people use about it that a lot of us think it means "OMG gonna die you're so fat!", perhaps confusing "mortality" with "morbidity" (or maybe the "obsessed with death" take on morbid). So, here's what "morbidity" means:

1 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of disease b : affected with or induced by disease c : productive of disease
2 : abnormally susceptible to or characterized by gloomy or unwholesome feelings
3 : GRISLY, GRUESOME
(from Merriam Webster)

So, morbid obesity is basically a theoretical state in which fatness itself is a disease or causes disease. Y'all know what I think of that theory, so I won't bother with it today, but I do think if we're going to use the medical community's word choices, we need to be clear about what they meant.

This is not, by the way, specifically about anyone - it's just something that feels to me like a trend.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

deeleigh.livejournal.com

I think "mobidly obese" mean a BMI over 40. Does anyone know for sure?

I hate that expression. It corresponds to a higher risk category, but risk doesn't equal morbidity and it certainly doesn't equal causation. It's a horrible way to label someone's body. Hell, I don't even like "obese," but if they have to use a medical term for degrees of fatness, type 1, type 2, etc. is less offensive than"mildly," "morbidly," and... whatever other judgemental terms they use.

From: (Anonymous)

"Morbid" obesity is, in fact, 100 pounds over one's "ideal" weight, or someone who has a BMI over 40.

Great post though, April, about the terminology. I'm certain that many people throwing it about don't know what it really means: it can be a tacit agreement that fat is a disease.

- Paul / bigfatblog.com

From:

raanve

This is really informative -- thank you! It makes me totally re-evaluate that use of the term. I don't think I'll be using it from now on.

From:

belladonnalin.livejournal.com

I've definitely noticed the use of that term and wondered at it. I mean, what we're really doing is medicalizing the "gruesomeness" of fat folks' body. How fucked up is that?

From:

lil-ms-drama.livejournal.com

Personally when I think of morbid obesity, I think of my mother. At her top weight she was 500 pounds. She couldn't really move around a lot, she had tons of health problems such as arthritis and diabetes, and she didn't want to do anything but complain about her ailments and take 3-800 mg Ibuprophen every day while eating chocolate ice cream.

In her case I feel her obesity contributed to her problems because when she moved on to live in the nursing home and they forced her to eat more properly, she was able to move around better and her sugar levels were controlled without medicine.

Now doctors are trying to tell me I have a BMI of 35-40. I tell them I'm pregnant. They tell me I have to lose weight. I tell them to get fucked. LOL.

From:

firecat

WordNet adds the definition "Meaning #2: suggesting the horror of death and decay".

I think that whoever thought up the term "morbid obesity" fully intended the "OMG gonna die you're so fat!" connotation. I'm not aware of any other physical conditions that are called "morbid" even when they are associated with disease. In fact medical terminology usually goes out of its way to cover up negative connotations. We have "Stage IV carcinoma" not "deadly cancer" for example. That makes the word "morbid" stand out more in the term "morbid obesity."

From:

keryx.livejournal.com

I disagree - the notion of "comorbidities" (illnesses that happen at the same time, of possibly the same cause), for instance, is pretty common in medical parlance.