Kate Hackett
It is well known that women, especially women of color, have a difficult time getting proper medical attention. When those women are also overweight, doctors have a tendency to blame the extra weight for all medical problems.
An anonymous woman recently lost 75 pounds, going from 210 pounds to 135, to receive proper medical care.
“It took me a year to lose it all, but what finally pushed me to lose the weight was because every single thing I went to a doctor for, it got blamed on my weight,” she said.
The thread received over 49,200 upvotes and clearly struck a chord with people. Many confirmed that doctors do, indeed, blame weight for all ills and commonly miss diagnoses in the process.
This “weight bias” causes serious issues for patients who do not receive proper care. It can also lead to treatment delays, which can compound serious problems.
YukiBean’s post ignited a debate. One person called the case “diagnostic overshadowing.”
Others shared similar experiences.
Others in the thread discussed how to deal with doctor mistreatment:
Doctor Kimberly Gudzune, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, studies weight bias in medicine.
According to Dr. Gudzune, “physicians often hold negative attitudes, both explicit and implicit, about people with excess weight.”
In a study conducted by Dr. Gudzune, she found very clear results that visible biases were strong. “As soon as a provider walks in the door, we’re automatically making judgments about who you are as a person,” she said.
Weight bias is particularly concerning because more than two-thirds of American adults suffer from being overweight or obese. “[With] the magnitude of the effect of obesity in our country, a substantial number of people are experiencing health care disparities as a result,” she said.
Lead image: Pexels
