“See! It’s not all in my head!” Attaching a medical label to behaviors can reframe their social meaning.

A statin drug will not give a 10-year-old a high level of energy, the freedom to interact with peers without fear of being bullied, or a generally happy outlook on life.

It is difficult to argue that consumers are maximizing their welfare by consuming trans fats, particularly because the production and taste costs of replacing them do not outweigh the health benefits.

Harmful biases about people who are overweight persist even among professional care givers.

Residents can be better prepared to treat patients who are obese by understanding that care as an expression of the core principles of professionalism: responsibility, self-regulation, patient-centered care, and teamwork.

A breastfed infant in a high weight-for-length percentile is not necessarily at greater risk for future health problems than a leaner infant; a physician would be justified in advocating for such a child to receive insurance coverage.

The emerging field of obesity medicine seeks to address the lack of information, lack of consensus, and bias impeding the care of patients with obesity.

Numerous sources of weight bias exist in medicine; physicians can play an important role in ameliorating it.

BMI is useful as a general indicator of body composition, particularly at the extreme ends of the spectrum, but has some limitations.

The 5A approach can be used by primary care physicians to briefly counsel patients about weight management.