Why Is Weight Stigma So Stubbornly, Implicitly Persistent?

Are we on the way to ending weight stigma or is it more stubbornly persistent than we might imagine? We found a clue to the persistence of bias in health professionals in a new commentary published by the Washington Post. From his perch at the Harvard Medical School, Dr. Preston Lee writes:

“Like many doctors, I was once condescending to obese patients. I regret it.”

He goes on to describe his enlightenment. Most “obese people” can’t lose weight with simple lifestyle changes like he did. It’s great to have new drugs “that can really help obese patients.”

Explicit and Implicit Expressions of Bias

He says all the right things about obesity itself – its complexity as a disease, its genetic basis, the problems with blaming people for a condition that troubles them. And yet, he persists in calling people “obese” rather than framing the disease separately from their identity.

This, friends, is an implicit expression of stigma that points to the difficulty of changing how we feel about persons living with obesity, even after our understanding of the disease has grown. He clearly means well, but obese is an identity or an epithet, not a diagnosis.

The difference between “you are” and “you have” is both subtle and huge.

Ending Weight Stigma

Weight stigma is wrong on so many levels. It dehumanizes people, harming their health and wellbeing. On top of that, it serves to widen health disparities in marginalized populations. Commenting on her recent publication in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Fatima Cody Stanford explained why ending weight stigma is essential for reducing health disparities:

“Obesity and related conditions have a greater impact on marginalized groups, leading to further
health disparities. The result is a staggering burden of disease and yet poor access to care.”

If  you, like we, are committed to ending our persistent problem with weight stigma, then you will want to participate in an upcoming webinar with some of the top researchers and advocates in the world on this subject. This will include Ximena Ramos Salas, Rebecca Puhl, Stuart Flint, and Lisa Schaffer. From 10:30 am to 1:00 pm EDT on October 25, they will be mapping out action priorities to achieve this end. Register now.

To register for the October 25 webinar, click here. For Sanford’s paper in AJPM, click here and then here for free access to Lee’s commentary in the Post.

Stubbornness, painting by Pericles Pantazis / WikiArt

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October 14, 2024