I have friends who had to answer patient complaints and apologize when they advised obese patients with joint pain or shortness of breath to lose weight. We don’t have patients anymore, we have “customers”.
My wife has had off and on weight problems over the years and normally doesn’t take offense when told that she needs to lose some weight to ease knee problems. Some doctors do use it as a cover-all for whatever the problem is and that does aggravate her.
I don’t bother to tell them to lose weight, I just say its “ all the WORK you’re doing standing and walking that just wears your joints out” or all work causes you to be short of breath. It doesn’t matter what you say to someone that is 100-200 lbs overweight. They know they’re fat. Just like smokers know it’s bad for you.
I always get the, “I know, I know, you gonna tell me to stop smoking....”. I just look at them and say, “nope, I want you to smoke as much as possible..... I’ve got 4 kids and if you stop smoking I won’t see you all the time and pay their tuitions”