Nicole, a 26-year-old mother of two, has visited her primary care physician due to a migraine headache. As he signs her prescriptions, her primary care physician says, "Life would probably be a little easier if you didn't weigh 279 pounds." The intended purpose of this article is to further explore the issue of weight discrimination in healthcare settings. Nurses Announcements Archive Article
Weight discrimination is the treatment of someone in an unfair manner due to the person's size. Even though extremely thin individuals are occasionally treated poorly due to their size, overweight and obese people are the most frequent targets. Weight discrimination occurs in families, hiring practices, schools, places of business, the media, and healthcare settings.
Yes, I said it. I have opened the can of worms. Many healthcare professionals harbor prejudices against overweight patients. Some of these biased people are remarkable in their abilities to keep their negative feelings in the closet, while others are more vocal about their animus toward people who have excess body fat.
Some physicians are notorious for their unfavorable attitudes toward overweight patients. In 2003, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania surveyed more than 600 primary care doctors and found that more than half viewed obese patients as awkward, unattractive and noncompliant (Ulene, 2010). Furthermore, a Yale study of 2,449 overweight and obese women, published in 2006 in the journal Obesity, found that they identified doctors as one of the top sources of negative comments about their weight (Rabin, 2008).
A number of nurses are appalled by overweight patients, too. A 2006 review of research focusing on nurses' attitudes toward adult overweight and obese patients reported that nurses consistently express biased attitudes toward obese patients, reflecting common weight-based stereotypes that obese patients are lazy, lacking in self-control, and noncompliant (Puhl & Heuer, 2009).
How does weight discrimination affect patients in the healthcare setting? Well, the effects can be rather detrimental because overweight patients may avoid seeking care due to the fear of being shamed or ridiculed. Several obese patients said in interviews that they went to see a doctor only when it was unavoidable and often left feeling that they hadn't gotten the help they needed (Rabin, 2008).
Are there any solutions to the issue of prejudiced attitudes against overweight patients? First, the healthcare provider must acknowledge that they have a bias. After all, a person cannot expect to solve a problem if he/she has not yet identified one. Secondly, the healthcare professional needs to practice the interpersonal skill of being nonjudgmental. Finally, the Golden Rule is applicable when interacting with patients: treat people in the same manner that you would want to be treated.
Weight discrimination is a significant issue in healthcare settings and in society as a whole. Together we can strive for equal treatment of our overweight patient populations. Although attitudes do not change overnight, the small changes that we make can snowball into profoundly positive results.