PC Police: ‘Don’t Weigh Me’ Cards Are Now a Thing for People who Don’t Want to Tell Their Doctor Their Weight

Most people who go to the doctor expect to have their weight and blood pressure checked and most appointments if not all. More-Love.org has put out cards that read ‘Don’t Weigh me unless it’s (really) medically necessary’. The opposite side lists a reason of why a doctor may not need to weigh the person with the card.

The organization putting out the cards was founded in 2016, by Ginny Jones, “It is an online resource that empowers parents to raise kids who are free from body hate, disordered eating, and eating disorders. We educate parents about weight, food, and mental health and seek to reduce the fear and shame parents feel when their child has a problem with body hate, disordered eating, or an eating disorder.”

Further down on the website below an image of a tree it says, “When a tree gets sick, we don’t blame the tree. Instead, we look at the ecosystem and figure out what we need to do to help the tree get healthy and strong. When our children suffer, starve themselves, and hate their bodies, we must look to the ecosystem to find clues that will help them heal. Families are a critical part of our kids’ ecosystem so the changes we make in our homes can make a huge impact on our child’s recovery from an eating disorder.”

Eating disorders need to be taken seriously, but establishing a baseline for a child’s weight and growth can help doctors identify if there are serious medical issues. Many children struggle with obesity in America. According to the CDC most recent data19.3% of children and adolescents are obese. It takes a change from both parents and the child to make effective change when it comes to obesity.

In our view the parent’s and the doctor need to make the decision on what need to be checked and monitored, ultimately the doctor should be the one who can tell if something is medically necessary. Avoiding checking your weight can lead to uncontrolled weight gain as well as other problems. Avoiding difficult things doesn’t fix them but don’t have to look at the number on the scale but the doctor needs to see it. The website also offers cards asking the doctor not to discuss their child’s weight.

Twitter users responded to the news:

Tom Shattuck joked, “My people are rising up! (Albeit slowly and labored)”.

My people are rising up! (Albeit slowly and labored) https://t.co/oiZgXYZYoe

— Tom Shattuck (@tomshattuck) December 21, 2021

AnthropeceneMPG, 2.0 asked, “are people actually doing this !?”

are people actually doing this ⁉️https://t.co/Zjet5VxWTo

— AnthropoceneMPG, 2.0 (@AnthropoceneM) December 22, 2021

Cancer M.D, it’s dr joel replied, “You’ve got to be sh*tting me.”

You’ve got to be sh*tting me. https://t.co/DJlHWgLkOs

— it’s dr joel (@itsdoctorjoel) December 23, 2021