What does “Bariatric” mean?

Bariatrics is the medical field dedicated to the study and treatment of excess body weight in an individual. Bariatric refers to the branch of medicine that deals with weight. This is the textbook definition based on the Latin medical terminology.

The Canadian Obesity Network, an association of professionals who work in the medical and social treatment areas of bariatric medicine, is asking people to consider that “obesity”, when it is chronic (long-lasting) and acute (involves more than 10% extra weight), is a medical condition. Let’s call it what it is…a disease.

As a label for someone who is consistently  “over” an ideal weight, “bariatric” carries less of a negative slant compared to the terms obese, morbidly obese or just plain “fat”. Having a bariatric body type implies something about being consistently beyond a healthy body weight in spite of attempts to lose the excess. It may be just a different label, but like “pregnant” is a label, it can change personal and public perception of an individual’s situation.  

Appropriate and non-judgemental labels can defray the perpetual scanning and negative judging that we do to each other, shifting obesity from personal to medical condition. This shift in perception would make bariatric chronic conditions a medical issue, similar to broad categories of chronic medical conditions we are all familiar with like diabetes or arthritis. This could create an opportunity or opening to see obesity as more than just a personal character flaw, and more of an array of medically-associated diseases. Just as there are hundreds of causes and types of arthritis, so there are many and disparate causes of obesity.