Glossary

Acanthosis Nigricans is the name for dry, dark patches of skin that usually appear in the armpits, neck or groin. Depending on your natural skin tone, the patches may also appear yellowish and be confused with sweat marks. They can also have a soft, smooth texture. Some people also have tiny growths (skin tags) on the patches. Acanthosis Nigricans is a physical sign of insulin resistance. The patches can fade when the insulin resistance is treated.

(Dr Aswani)

Barriers are things that make it hard for people to do well or make changes. In health studies, barriers are things that stop people from getting help with their health (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). They are the opposite of things that help, called facilitators. 

Body Mass Index or BMI is one way to check if someone is a healthy weight for their height. You find it by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared (National Health Service, 2019). This helps to see if they are underweight, living with overweight, or a healthy weight. 

Dr Aswani says:

Your BMI is a measure of your weight in relation to your height. Because people’s weight varies depending on what gender and age they are, BMI is a better measure of whether your body is carrying the right weight for your skeleton, or too much or too little. BMI is not a measure of body fat, so the BMI cannot tell the difference between excess fat, muscle or bone. However, it helps us to know whether we should screen you for other health problems.

BMI-SDS is a way to see if a child or young person’s weight is normal for their age and gender. It’s used to check if children and young people are at a healthy weight because regular BMI doesn’t work well for them since they’re still growing. It’s figured out using local data about children and young people’s weights and heights. BMI-SDS can be higher or lower, positive or negative. A lower BMI-SDS means the child or young person’s weight is close to average while a higher BMI-SDS means the child or young person’s weight is far from average. Also, a negative BMI-SDS means the child or young person’s weight is below average while a positive BMI-SDS means the child or young person’s weight is above average. For example, if a child or young person has a BMI-SDS of 1.5, it means their weight is higher than most children and young people their age and gender. 

These special clinics help children and young people who are living with severe obesity or have other health complications. They offer personalised support without judging anyone. The clinics have different experts like dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, and doctors to help. 

A researcher who looks into problems to find answers. When two or more people do this job together, they are called co-investigators (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). 

Demographics are things we can measure about people, like their age, race, gender, and if they are married. In health research, this information helps us understand what different groups of people need for better health (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). 

Deprivation means not having the basic things you need like money, food, and safe, warm homes (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). 

Facilitators are things that help people to do well or make changes. In health studies, they help people to be healthier. They are the opposite of barriers (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). 

HbA1c is a blood test that checks for diabetes by measuring how much sugar is stuck to your red blood cells (Tello, 2019).  

Health inequalities are differences in how healthy people are and how easily they can get healthcare. Things like not having enough money for basic needs, housing, and education can cause these differences (Think Local Act Personal). 

A health inequity is an unfair and avoidable difference in health or healthcare between people. Unlike health inequalities, health inequities are about fairness, values, and politics (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014). 

This is another word for high blood pressure. It rarely has noticeable symptoms, but if your blood pressure is too high, it puts extra strain on your blood vessels, heart and other organs, such as the brain, kidneys and eyes. If it is untreated, it increases your risk of serious problems when you are older such as heart attacks and strokes. Making healthy lifestyle changes can help reduce your chances of getting high blood pressure and help lower your blood pressure if it’s already too high. Things you can be supported to do are to eat less salty foods, eat more fruit and vegetables, try and reduce weight and increase exercise.

(Dr Aswani)

IMD scores use different things like money, housing, and social stuff to make one big score. All neighbourhoods in England are given a score. A higher score means the area is worse off (more deprived) (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2015). 

Insulin is a hormone that controls sugar levels in the body. When the body becomes resistant to insulin, it tries to cope by producing more insulin. People with insulin resistance are often producing more insulin than healthy people. Initially, insulin resistance presents no symptoms. The symptoms only start to appear once it leads to other things such as higher blood sugar levels. When this happens, the symptoms may include tiredness, hunger, thirst and difficulty concentrating. If it is not reversed, it can lead to Type 2 diabetes. It is certainly possible to reduce the effects of insulin resistance and there are a number of effective ways to do this by reducing the number of calories, amount of sugar and quantity of carbohydrate in the meals and snacks you eat, and the types of drinks you have. Another way is to increase your physical activity.

(Dr Aswani)

Lived experience means the things you learn and know from being in a situation yourself (Think Local Act Personal). 

A long-term illness or health condition that you can't get rid of but can usually help with medicine or other treatments.  (Think Local Act Personal). 

Weight related issues can have a major impact on your emotional health and may leave you feeling sad, worried and anxious.  This can affect the way you feel about yourself and can lower your self esteem and confidence.  This often leads to excess eating to help you feel better. There are people that can help with this too.

(Dr Aswani)

This is when you have 3 or more of

• A high waist measurement which indicates that you are carrying too much fat around your internal organs (called visceral fat)

• A high blood pressure

• High levels of unhealthy fats in the blood which can lead to high cholesterol and low levels of good fats, which can reduce the risk of high cholesterol

• Insulin resistance

Metabolic syndrome can be reversed by changing what you eat and reducing portion sizes and increasing your activity levels and reducing the time you are sitting still.

(Dr Aswani)

Mixed methods research means using both types of research: one that involves numbers and measurements (quantitative) and one that involves people's thoughts and feelings (qualitative) in the same study (Creswell, 2014). 

Co-morbidity means having two or more  illnesses at the same time (Think Local Act Personal). 

The NHS Long-Term Plan is a 10-year plan (2019–2029) for the National Health Service. It aims to make care better for children, young people, and people with cancer, heart disease, and mental health issues (Think Local Act Personal). 

NAFLD or MASLD occurs when you have too much fat in your liver.
The liver is a very active organ, taking food directly from the gut and processing fat, carbohydrates and protein into energy and other proteins. In some people there is an imbalance in this process. This may result in too much fat coming into the liver cell, causing a change in the cells’ ability to process (metabolise) or transport the fats/carbohydrates elsewhere, and storing them in the liver instead.

In some people, the liver cells simply accumulate fat droplets that do not irritate their liver. However, in others, the fat droplets act like splinters and cause an inflammatory response leading to the formation of scars. We may want to scan your liver to make sure you haven’t developed any scars. If NAFLD or MASLD is found early, it can be reversed by changing what you eat and increasing activity levels.

(Dr Aswani)

Non-starchy vegetables lack starch and are typically lower in sugar while being rich in fibre.

Obesity means having a lot of body fat (National Health Service, 2018). 

Sleep apnoea happens if your airways become too narrow while you sleep, often picked up by snoring. This stops you breathing properly and results in restless sleep. This can lead to tiredness which can affect your school performance. Sleep apnoea if untreated can lead to high blood pressure, and changes in your mood and energy levels

Overweight means having too much fat, which can be bad for your health (National Health Service, 2018).   

Photovoice is when people take photos, make voice recordings, or short films before sharing them in an interview or discussion with a researcher. 

This method puts the person’s (patient) needs and wants at the heart of  their care plan to make decisions together with the healthcare team (Think Local Act Personal). 

The PI (Principal Investigator) is in charge of the study.

Researchers must give people who might join a study information about the project. This includes explaining that their identity will be kept secret and that they can leave the study at any time. This information is usually given in a participant information sheet (PIS) (Sparkes and Smith, 2014). 

Symptoms of PCOS can be irregular periods or no periods at all, which can make it difficult to get pregnant at a later age, because of irregular ovulation (when eggs are released from the ovaries). Other features include excessive hair growth (this can be on the face), weight gain, hair loss and acne. It's related to abnormal hormone levels in the body, including high levels of insulin.

Many girls and young women with PCOS are resistant to the action of insulin in their body and produce higher levels of insulin to overcome this.

This contributes to the increased production and activity of hormones like testosterone.

(Dr Aswani)

Primary care is a type of healthcare that focuses on being the first-place people go for help. In England this is normally your GP/family doctor’s surgery.

QALY is a measure of health that adjusts benefits (length of life) to reflect quality of life. One QALY equals 1 year of perfect health. It considers a patient’s remaining years of life after a treatment or intervention, weighted by quality-of-life scores (on a 0 to 1 scale) related to daily activities, pain, and mental well-being (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014).

Qualitative research looks at what people think, experience, feel, do, and how they interact. It tries to understand "how" and "why" things happen.  (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014).

Realist evaluation is a way to study things to find out what works (or not), for who, why, and in what situation (Pawson, 2013).

Choosing people to invite to a study (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014). 

A survey which is called “STAndardised Reporting of Lifestyle weight management InTerventions to aid Evaluation.”   STAR-LITE aims to encourage more services to report the outcomes of behavioural weight management interventions. 

Secondary care includes both inpatient and outpatient services. It can be planned or emergency care and is more specialized than primary care (Think Local Act Personal). 

A study systematically collects information from people, often from a sample within a defined population (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014).  

These are people who use or might use health services but are listened to less often by doctors and decision-makers (Healthwatch, 2020). 

A way of describing people based on their education, money they make and type of job. (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014). 

This is another word for stretch marks. These can occur when you grow very rapidly. When you stop growing rapidly, eventually these marks can fade and turn from red and purple in colour to a silvery skin tone.

(Dr Aswani)

A way to organise and explain information collected during research by finding common patterns (Braun and Clarke, 2006). 

A description of how or why something might happen.

When patients leaving a service early.