It’s no secret that being obese can make you the target of some very negative and stigmatizing attitudes. Many people have been subjected to public ridicule and cruel remarks, lost jobs or promotions, and even been blamed for large-scale social problems like climate change and rising health care costs—all because of their weight. As reported in this article, even doctors and health policy professionals get in on the act. Ms. Brown reports that, in one study, more than half of the 620 doctors questioned said they viewed obese patients as “awkward, unattractive, ugly, and unlikely to comply with treatment.” Another study shows that higher BMI scores translate into doctors having less respect for patients and spending less time with them during appointments. With all the evidence that, in most cases, obesity is a complex condition caused by the interaction of many different genetic, biochemical, and environmental factors, you’d think that medical professionals, especially, would be less likely to fall into the trap of viewing obesity as some sort of character flaw and stigmatizing obese patients. Ms. Brown raises the possibility that many health professionals and policy makers believe that being stigmatized can motivate people to lose weight and improve their health. But, as she notes, the question is whether this approach actually works. Most of the evidence seems to say “No.” Being on the receiving end of judgmental or stigmatizing attitudes is highly associated with depression, anxiety, and other emotional problems, and many people are motivated to avoid situations where they experience these attitudes. People who feel judged by their doctors may simply avoid going to the doctor, even when they really need to. Others may internalize the negative judgments aimed at them, becoming their own harshest critics and worst enemies. This rarely leads to positive choices and actions. Dr. Peter A Muenning, a professor of health policy at Columbia University, told Ms. Brown that being stigmatized can actually make people sick: “Stigma and prejudice are intensely stressful. Stress puts the body on full alert, which gets the blood pressure up, the sugar up, everything you need to fight or flee the predator.” Over time, chronic stress can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, psychiatric disorders, and other problems—the same conditions often associated with obesity. Ironically, the social stigma attached to obesity may actually be aggravating the situation and contributing to the negative health consequences of being overweight. As Ms. Brown describes in her article, even well-intended efforts to combat the “obesity epidemic,” especially childhood obesity, can backfire and produce negative consequences. For example, conducting school-based campaigns to prevent teenage obesity can make overweight students feel stressed for making the same lunch choices as other students, and fail to get thinner students to examine their own eating habits and make healthier choices. Maybe we need to put less emphasis on obesity as the problem, and more on building and maintaining healthy lifestyles for people of all weights and sizes, as advocated by The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance What do you think? Have you been on the receiving end of the obesity stigma? Does that help motivate you to make changes, or does it just raise your stress level and cause more problems than it solves? What do you do to overcome the negative feelings associated with being stimatized?  You will earn 5 SparkPoints
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My husband was estranged from his father for the first thirty years of his life and has recently begun to build a relationship with him.
After meeting me a couple of times he told my husband not to bring me around anymore because he is a "fattist".
If he doesn't like me now, he would have really had disdain for me seven years ago when I was around 400 lbs :(
Now I'm at 220 and thought I was doing great. That one comment blew it all up for me for a while and I'm still very hurt about it but it IS terrific motivation to continue losing.
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Well, guess what?! I am not too fat nor too old and this gentleman would not take the time to listen to me or hear me as he has his mind made up before I even showed up. Now, at the Mayo Clinic, they told me that I have great muscle tone, and they found a way that they would like to try before resorting to surgery and I am all game for that!
As for the adage of the childhood "Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me." is a LIE!!! Words, hurt and break you down quicker than sticks and stones will. Once something is said, you CANNOT take it back!!!!
Blessings!
- Nancy Jean -
GA Report
Let's substitute "smoking" for "obesity" for a moment. For the past several decades, a concerted effort on the part of health experts, coupled with very effective media campaigns vilifying smoking, has resulted in a sharp decrease in the number of individuals who currently smoke. NO ONE in his right mind would make a case that there was "prejudice" against smokers, or advocate for "Smoking acceptance!" Yet, in fact, there are a lot of health care practitioners who won't even broach the subject of weight with their patients for fear of offending them. (I come from a family of doctors, so I do know what it's like.)
Obesity probably is the biggest current health issue, and like smoking, it DOES affect other people too. Moreover, it is something we are ALL capable of improving -- but only if we stop making excuses for poor choices and quit being so sensitive all the time.
There will always be mean, nasty individuals who delight in hurling rude epithets at other people. Usually, those individuals are very insecure themselves. The best armor against them? That little playground adage from our childhood: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me!" Report
She made hurtful comments like these a lot of the time and her weight yoyo'd all the time because she would never stick with trying to lose the healthy way.
I finally decided I didn't need her in my life anymore and just stopped hanging out. I'm so much less stressed now and I'm actually hitting the gym and losing weight. Report
Do we put our head in the sand and pretend that weight has no effect on our health and quality of life? HELL NO!
My experience with the Fat Acceptance movement (particularly my sister, who is an evangelical convert) has been overwhelmingly negative. They seem more interested in trying to scold me for exercising and watching what I eat as though they have a vested interest in making sure I stay fat. (and they probably do, since everyone who gives up and accepts their ideas is a success). They tell me that wanting to lose weight is "internalized misogyny" and "accepting patriarchal oppression." No, it's not about a dress size or male attention. (For $#$%# sake, I married a cook.) It's because I have a laundry list of health issues running in my family and REALLY want to hold those off as long as possible. Yes, I'm working with my doctor on this. No, I'm not being pressured into this by a "fatphobic medical-pharmaceutical complex." Yes, I'm sore from last night's workout. No, I'm not interested in a lecture about how I'm "punishing myself for being fat and female" because I can lift double what I could six months ago.
For crying out loud, either help or get out of my way! Report
Especially when it comes to medical professionals. I went to doctors for 10 years complaining of issues I had, just to be brushed off as lazy and being told I should lose weight. Que the 10 year mark, I almost died because of a untreated tumor the idiots could have diagnosed with blood and urine tests, but didn't because they all thought I was lazy and wanted to be put on sick leave. (My surgeon and other follow up doctors all agree that the 10 years of symptoms are very likely due to said tumor) Even when I walked in to the office at one point and said "Hey, I've lost 40 lbs and my symptoms are worse than ever!" they did nothing. It's made me incredibly distrustful of doctors, cause guess what, even though I'm fat I can still actually get sick!
I'm still working on losing weight. I just try to do it in a way that requires as little interaction with other people as possible. I plan my meals, I work out at home etc. Report
There are a couple of take-aways from this. First, if some one treated my kid that way they would find the outcome sub-optimal. I don't consider myself a particularly nice man and I think that the doctor might have found my adult behavior a little less cordial than he was used to.
I also think that my anger and resentment toward people could have been halted if I hadn't had to deal with other peoples crap when I was a kid. My relationship with food could have been more positive if I didn't always feel like a freak or the fat kid.
I grew about 2 feet between 12 and 14. I weighed about 220 in 9th grade and would play football at 250. All the idiots who gave me crap wanted to be my friend or were scared of me. I wonder how much more positive my life would have been if I didn't develop all the aggression and anger I still struggle with.
Sorry about the rambling, I guess I needed to vent. :) Report
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