GPs and other health professionals should tell people they are fat rather than obese, a health minister has said.
Anne Milton said the the term fat was more likely to motivate people into losing weight, adding it was important people took "personal responsibility" for their lifestyles.
Stressing she was speaking in a personal capacity, she said: "If I look in the mirror and think I am obese I think I am less worried [than] if I think I am fat."
Too many staff working in the NHS were worried about using the term, Ms Milton said, but suggested it could help encourage "personal responsibility".
She added: "At the end of the day you cannot do it for them. People have to have the information."
It comes as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence publishes guidelines on pregnancy, saying NHS staff are dealing with "an epidemic of obesity" among pregnant women.
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