title: Words will never hurt me? Preferred terms for describing obesity and binge eating.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study evaluated individuals' language preferences for discussing obesity and binge eating.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (N = 817; 68.3% female) were an online community sample. They rated the desirability of terms related to obesity and binge eating, and also completed psychometrically established eating-disorder measures. In addition to examining participants' preferences, analyses explored whether preferences differed by socio-demographic variables, weight status and binge-eating status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Preferred obesity-related terms were weight and BMI, although women rated undesirable obesity-related terms even lower than did men. Participants with obesity and binge eating rated weight, BMI, unhealthy BMI and large size as less desirable than participants with obesity but not binge eating. Binge-related terms were generally ranked neutrally; preferred descriptions were kept eating even though not physically hungry and loss of control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preferred terms were generally consistent across sex, weight status and binge-eating status. Using terms ranked more preferably and avoiding terms ranked more undesirably may enhance clinical interactions, particularly when discussing obesity with women and individuals reporting binge eating, as these groups had stronger aversion to some non-preferred terms. Findings that the selected binge-related descriptions were rated neutrally on average provide support for their use by clinicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6425-514X
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lydecker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Galbraith
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ivezaj
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Roberto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Grilo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D057240:Patient Preference; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D055815:Young Adult