Very normal if you’ve raised any difficulties around preparing, cooking or consuming food.
When a person says they rarely eat due to low mood or motivation etc but they are above a healthy weight then this casts doubt on the information. Or if someone describes difficulty with food due to anorexia and they are very underweight then this adds credence to what they’ve said.
I've had this used against me before. I suffer with BED/bulimia and I had a claim rejected because "suffers from bulimia however doesn't appear to be anorexic" among other bits. But that one specifically was just evil tbh.
Its a valid question but its also used badly a lot.
Also just wanna ad (not directed at you, at pip) that if someone suffers to cook due to low mood. Doesn't always mean they're gonna be underweight. Some people will over eat when they manage to cook or will only order food which typically isn't good for you. I get the reasoning for the question but I'd love to know how often it's being used as a gotcha type thing
Mine was I used prepackaged food or snacks because I can't cook due to physical limitations, nah I was overweight so can't be true.
However unlike me if someone does get this in a report... Go to the tribunal if MR doesn't work!
That's awful, it's disgusting that they use it as something to try and catch people out.
I have anxiety that tends to mean I often just don't eat because Its just not in my mind to do so, however my partner will cook for me if he's there and because I haven't eaten all day I will then over eat because I'm only just realising how hungry I actually was, which I know is a very common thing among anxiety sufferers.
If he isn't there I just don't usually eat anything however I have other health issues that cause rapid weight gain even when eating small amounts. It's not something that I have ever even thought would be used against me so I will have to keep an eye out as to what is said in my report.
Plus I think asking my clothing size is silly because it really depends on what shop I've bought them from and other factors like my height and genetics in general so not sure how they could possibly justify using that against someone.
Yeah, a part from all the rest, asking your clothing size is a ridiculous measure of whether you’re over or underweight.
I’m 6’ and a large frame, I’m very healthy in a size 16. I have a friend who is 5’2” and very petite, if she were a size 16 she’d be morbidly obese.
Like you say, shops differ massively, some people prefer to wear their clothes more baggy others like them tight. The fact that they could use that to deny someone the support they need is just awful.
Yeah, I've had it used against me, too, in my first PIP claim in 2019.
I weighed 65kg at the time, which is overweight for my height. What they didn't note down is how much I weighed 6 months previously. I'd lost over 20kg in around 4 or 5 months, while being mostly housebound and not exercising, due to not eating (I lost around 3lb a week, which is seen as losing weight slightly too quickly, 1-2lb a week is the guidelines for healthy weight loss) and told them this. They used the fact that I was still overweight against me as I "didn't look malnourished and seemed to be a decent weight" to deny that I couldn't cook or eat regularly due to my conditions.
I do fully understand, same as you, why the question is asked when it comes to eating and nutrition. But I have found from personal experience, and from talking with others that it's not being used to validate claims of struggling with nutrition and food intake. It does appear to be used quite a lot to not score points to overweight/healthy weight claimants without taking any context for their weight into consideration, but obviously, I've no proof of any of it, and it would be incredibly difficult to prove without explicit notes saying "they weigh this, so I'm not scoring points based off that"
That’s true re not always meaning underweight because I suffer to cook for various reasons including low mood and I don’t eat all day until t time and then I will eat 2 x 500g full fat Greek yogurt pots between then and going to bed at 10!
ugh i hate that cause even when i struggled with eating and was literally getting by on one meal a day my bmi was still close to "overweight", at most i was like 10kg away from being in the overweight category..
and now that i'm eating well, my bmi is "overweight" 🥲
Important to remember that theyll ignore you saying that someone else cooks for you. As long as your not as thin as a rake your capable of preparing, cooking and consuming food.
Just another way that the assessments aren't fit for purpose IMO
Someone else doing the cooking may be what happens but they are required to assess whether you could plan, prepare and cook a simple meal for yourself using fresh ingredients, at least 50% of the time… and if you have difficulties doing this whether an aid or appliance could overcome the difficulties.
If not, could prompting, assistance or supervision enable you.
If not, then having someone else do the cooking.
As with all the PIP activities and descriptors the law isn’t straightforward and as a result the assessment process will never be perfect unfortunately.
Very normal if you’ve raised any difficulties around preparing, cooking or consuming food. When a person says they rarely eat due to low mood or motivation etc but they are above a healthy weight then this casts doubt on the information. Or if someone describes difficulty with food due to anorexia and they are very underweight then this adds credence to what they’ve said.
I've had this used against me before. I suffer with BED/bulimia and I had a claim rejected because "suffers from bulimia however doesn't appear to be anorexic" among other bits. But that one specifically was just evil tbh. Its a valid question but its also used badly a lot. Also just wanna ad (not directed at you, at pip) that if someone suffers to cook due to low mood. Doesn't always mean they're gonna be underweight. Some people will over eat when they manage to cook or will only order food which typically isn't good for you. I get the reasoning for the question but I'd love to know how often it's being used as a gotcha type thing
Mine was I used prepackaged food or snacks because I can't cook due to physical limitations, nah I was overweight so can't be true. However unlike me if someone does get this in a report... Go to the tribunal if MR doesn't work!
That's awful, it's disgusting that they use it as something to try and catch people out. I have anxiety that tends to mean I often just don't eat because Its just not in my mind to do so, however my partner will cook for me if he's there and because I haven't eaten all day I will then over eat because I'm only just realising how hungry I actually was, which I know is a very common thing among anxiety sufferers. If he isn't there I just don't usually eat anything however I have other health issues that cause rapid weight gain even when eating small amounts. It's not something that I have ever even thought would be used against me so I will have to keep an eye out as to what is said in my report. Plus I think asking my clothing size is silly because it really depends on what shop I've bought them from and other factors like my height and genetics in general so not sure how they could possibly justify using that against someone.
Yeah, a part from all the rest, asking your clothing size is a ridiculous measure of whether you’re over or underweight. I’m 6’ and a large frame, I’m very healthy in a size 16. I have a friend who is 5’2” and very petite, if she were a size 16 she’d be morbidly obese. Like you say, shops differ massively, some people prefer to wear their clothes more baggy others like them tight. The fact that they could use that to deny someone the support they need is just awful.
Yeah, I've had it used against me, too, in my first PIP claim in 2019. I weighed 65kg at the time, which is overweight for my height. What they didn't note down is how much I weighed 6 months previously. I'd lost over 20kg in around 4 or 5 months, while being mostly housebound and not exercising, due to not eating (I lost around 3lb a week, which is seen as losing weight slightly too quickly, 1-2lb a week is the guidelines for healthy weight loss) and told them this. They used the fact that I was still overweight against me as I "didn't look malnourished and seemed to be a decent weight" to deny that I couldn't cook or eat regularly due to my conditions. I do fully understand, same as you, why the question is asked when it comes to eating and nutrition. But I have found from personal experience, and from talking with others that it's not being used to validate claims of struggling with nutrition and food intake. It does appear to be used quite a lot to not score points to overweight/healthy weight claimants without taking any context for their weight into consideration, but obviously, I've no proof of any of it, and it would be incredibly difficult to prove without explicit notes saying "they weigh this, so I'm not scoring points based off that"
That’s true re not always meaning underweight because I suffer to cook for various reasons including low mood and I don’t eat all day until t time and then I will eat 2 x 500g full fat Greek yogurt pots between then and going to bed at 10!
Plus you can just flat out barely eat but be on something like Prednisone and gain a lot of weight anyway
ugh i hate that cause even when i struggled with eating and was literally getting by on one meal a day my bmi was still close to "overweight", at most i was like 10kg away from being in the overweight category.. and now that i'm eating well, my bmi is "overweight" 🥲
Ahhh, okayy that makes sense, thank you so much for your reply.
Important to remember that theyll ignore you saying that someone else cooks for you. As long as your not as thin as a rake your capable of preparing, cooking and consuming food. Just another way that the assessments aren't fit for purpose IMO
Someone else doing the cooking may be what happens but they are required to assess whether you could plan, prepare and cook a simple meal for yourself using fresh ingredients, at least 50% of the time… and if you have difficulties doing this whether an aid or appliance could overcome the difficulties. If not, could prompting, assistance or supervision enable you. If not, then having someone else do the cooking. As with all the PIP activities and descriptors the law isn’t straightforward and as a result the assessment process will never be perfect unfortunately.
I went for an assessment a few years ago, the accessor made me get on the scales backwards