You may mean this as a compliment, but if you know that a person has an IBD then their weight is a sensitive subject. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis can make a person lose a lot of weight very quickly, and often it’s difficult for sufferers to be able to get enough nutrition when they have flare-ups, which means that they are probably feeling at their lowest when they’re looking slimmer than usual.

Find out what it’s like growing up with an IBD as an adolescent.