Through many recent conversations with both obese patients and health professionals, I’m finding more and more that discrimination and weight prejudice is still socially acceptable within the medical community, not just in social circles and settings. I’ve always felt incredibly lucky that my own doctor is so amazing when dealing with weight-related topics and discussions, but I think my luck is rare.
More often that not, it seems that our health care professionals are not getting the sensitivity training that they need to deal with obese patients and the bias and discrimination that patients suffering from obesity face on a daily basis. I’ve heard all too often stories about doctors and health care professionals making derogatory comments to obese patients, even implying that their obesity is shameful.
It still boggles my mind that amount of discrimination that obese patients face despite the fact that it’s been classified as a disease. I am in the process of researching and collecting stories, suggestions, comments, and important information that could potentially be useful not only to health care professionals, but to obese patients advocating for their own health care. I would love for you to leave your thoughts in the comment section below, or if you prefer to remain anonymous, please email me directly at info@divataunia.com and put “anonymous comment” in the subject line so that I know to keep your information private.
Also, why not take this brief online survey from Harvard University’s Project Implicit?
Through this brief visual survey, you can access your own personal views and reactions about weight bias that may exist outside of your conscious awareness or control. I was really surprised that even with my dedication towards obesity awareness and sensitivity training, along with my own personal history with obesity, I was ranked with a moderate preference towards thin people. Surprising, and upsetting, but eye-opening about how deeply our bias as a culture is.
I have to wonder: if I exhibit these kinds of preferences, what about my health care professionals who haven’t fought their own battle with obesity? And what could I potentially be doing to perpetuate those stereotypes and biases? What type of conversations do I have / not have? What type of language do I use when referencing my own weight and struggles? How can I personally help teach my health care professionals how to treat me in the health care process?
Would be curious to hear your stories, suggestions, and results from the survey above. Many thanks!
Tags: obesity awareness, obesity sensitivity, project implicit, weight bias, weight discrimination
Here are some comments on Facebook from an earlier post today:
Carla – it all starts in the office… if you’re going to be treating obese patients, please have chairs without arms, or other appropriate furniture.
Melissa – My biggest complaint: not ALL medical issues are solved by loosing weight!
My DH has a rupture disc in his back, every single doctor we talked to said if he lost weight it would make the pain go away and he would be able to live with the minor pain that was left. At 450lbs he had back surgery to fix it. The doc cut him open, got all the way to the surgery site and then decided that he couldn’t finish it. His reason: there was too much mass between the outside and the surgery site. In other words, he’s too fat! He offered to write a referral letter to get WLS, but at 450lbs he didn’t need much help getting approved. Now that he’s lost 200+lbs he has a second ruptured disc right below the last one!!! The best explaination we got was that he was fat for too long and made everything weak and vulneralbe to damage.
I wish bariatric doctors would undersand the mental implications to giving patients a goal weight and then reprimanding them when they don’t meet that goal.
Sylvia – Being overweight has so much shame attached to it. Even going to the doctor for help is a big step…. The last thing I need is a lecture. We need help not a tongue lashing!
Tammy – Treat us like everyone else, because each of us has issues, health concerns, doesn’t matter if you’re skinny or old or young or fat. Treat us humanely, talk to us and never discount us, we are strong and resilient!!
Lisa – Lose the huffs and eye rolls. Just because someone doesn’t verbalize their disgust and hatred, doesn’t mean they do not translate it.
LaRell – No doctor should EVER say “you should lose weight”. I mean no $*&%! Like I didn’t allrrleady know that!
Patricia – on my journey I have learned that you can go from being totally out of control eating and put whatever label you want on that ( over eater food addiction ect ) to going all the way the other direction and put what ever label you want on that ( anorexic builimic ect) but it all stems from the constant o session with our “weight ” more emphasis should be put on a general number like our BMI ( although that needs revamping too) and not so much one certain number to which we all gauge of failure or success and develop eating disorders or really shity self Esteem based on a number. it has been my experience that EVERYTHING is calculated by that number. I have run into my dr at starbucks and the first thing he asks me us where am I weight wise ? really ? really. he is a great dr and wonderful person but like many patents we had, he doesn’t realize how he is setting us up for a different disorder .
DR. CONNIE STAPLETON:
Hey, Taunia – I actually conduct an 8-hour training program entitled “Understanding the Obese Patient” for all medical professionals… did five of them around the country last year! It was great! I loved reading all of the responses here! If anyone knows a program or city that welcomes this training – let me know! The Post Op and I will be there!!!
The God complex needs to be left at the door. A doctor that talks at his patient rather than to his patient, isn’t a doctor that should be seeing patients to begin with. If they see us as a chart instead of a human being, they clearly aren’t going to see us as having feelings but only as having a condition that needs to be tackled head on.
I understand that a as adults, we shouldn’t need to be coddled or handled with kid gloves, but we also don’t need to be demoralized by somebody simply because they have a white coat and a stethoscope.
I experienced a shocking visit with an ortho doc a few years ago. He is supposed to be the best knee guy and I had a new injury so I went. Between the call for the appointment and the actual appointment, my foot became super painful. I asked him if the pain could be a delayed reaction to the knee injury (I fell) and he got this disgusted look on his face and ripped my tied tennis shoe off my foot while commenting that he just didn’t get why people like me would just lose weight to solve their pain. The good news was that he ripped the wrong shoe off! I told him wrong foot and got the hurt foot out of his reach and removed the shoe myself. He had it xrayed, found nothing and sent me home. When I checked out, the receptionist asked if I needed a follow up and I said NO WAY and left.
I don’t care if he is the best knee guy, I’ll never darken his doors again and I go out of my way to warn people who are looking for an ortho doc that he is a major asshole.