Obese patients ‘being weight-shamed by doctors and nurses’

People who are overweight or obese are often wrongly blamed for their condition by doctors and nurses.

People are more likely to put on weight if they don't attend medical appointments and feel humiliated.

According to the authors of the study, health professionals need to be taught that excess weight is almost guaranteed in modern society and not the fault of individuals, so they treat people more sensitive.

More than 3000 health professionals were involved in 25 previous studies about weight stigma. Doctors, nurses, dieticians, psychologists and even obese specialists were found to have strong weight bias.

A number of health professionals believe their patients are lazy, lack self-control, overindulge, are hostile, dishonest, have poor hygiene and do not follow guidance, according to their analysis.

She said that healthcare, including general practice, is one of the most common settings for weight stigmatisation.

An example is a doctor showing a patient that they don't think the patient complies with their diet and exercise regimen because they are not losing weight.

It could be a specialist in weight management who would judge the patient for not being able to follow a very low-calorie diet for a long period of time but not providing other support. A patient may need a different set of scales to take down their weight.

Patients are not coming back or they delay their follow-up appointments, they avoid healthcare prevention services or cancel appointments due to concerns of being stigmatized due to their weight.

Many patients mentioned that they were happier with the online sessions for their treatments and they were not missing any appointments during the Covid epidemic. They didn't feel judged when they went to see their doctor.

The findings of the team have been published. To train health professionals to be less judgmental in how they talk to patients who are overweight, they wanted to identify which strategies helped. Two-thirds of adults in the UK are either overweight or obese, which has led to warnings of more cases of diseases such as cancer and diabetes in the future.

The language health professionals use with such patients is important to building a relationship and avoiding them feeling blamed for their weight gain. When referring to someone living with being overweight or obese, use patient first language. The person is not an obese patient. Someone who is managing their weight isn'tstruggling with their weight It's more than that

The authors say that medical students, nurses and other health specialists need to be trained in non-stigmatising weight- related communication.

The chairman of the National Obesity Forum said weight-shaming by health staff was a "shameful" problem.

In the 30 years since the UK decided to pursue a public health policy, educating health professionals in how to deal with obese people has never been a priority. It is shameful that the condition is still seen as a personal problem by health professionals and that they stigmatise patients for being overweight.

This is the last thing a patient would want to hear from a professional.

He agreed with the researchers that too many health staff give overweight patients the impression that they are to blame for their excess weight.

Fry said that weight gain has never been a personal issue. Many people are powerless to overcome the obesogenic environment in which they live, notably the ultra-processed food which slick advertising and relentless encourages them to eat.

This cheap but less than healthy food is an environment from which they have no escape.

The National Health Service England has been contacted.