End weight stigma
Negative and inaccurate stereotypes associated with weight include depictions of laziness, lack of will power, bad hygiene, low levels of competence and intelligence and unattractiveness
Fahmida Hashem
World Obesity Day, an annual campaign with the goal of stimulating and supporting practical actions that will help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle, was observed October 11. The day is led by the World Obesity Federation. World Obesitys mission is to lead and drive global efforts to reduce, prevent and treat obesity. This year World Obesity Day focused on stigma.
Obesity is rapidly becoming one of the biggest public health priorities globally. Worldwide, obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. More than 1.9 billion adults were classified as overweight in 2016 more than 650 million of whom were living with obesity. The global medical bill to treat the consequences of obesity is estimated to rise to $1.2 trillion a year by 2025.
Obesity is both a risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as well as a disease in its own right. Obesity acts as a gateway disease to NCDs, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and liver disease, which are responsible for over 70% of deaths worldwide.
Weight stigma is one of the last socially acceptable forms of discrimination. Weight stigma refers to negative behaviours and attitudes that are directed towards individuals solely because of their weight. Despite decades of science documenting weight stigma, its public health implications are widely ignored. Instead, obese persons are blamed for their weight, with common perceptions that weight stigmatization is justifiable and may motivate individuals to adopt healthier behaviours. Negative and inaccurate stereotypes associated with weight include depictions of laziness, lack of will power, bad hygiene, low levels of competence and intelligence and unattractiveness. Notice how it is rarely challenged? The word fat has morphed from a simple description into a foul word.
By focusing on stigma this year World Obesity Day aimed to: raise awareness about the presence and impact of weight stigma and what can be done about it, increase member engagement and encourage engagement with advocacy/campaigning on weight stigma, help people overcome the barriers that arise as a result of stigma, which can prevent them from getting the medical treatment they need.
Individual health consequence of weight stigma is unhealthy eating and lower physical activity, psychological disorder, substandard health care and decreased health care utilization. Along with this public health consequence of weight stigma is - societal and environmental contributor to obesity, teasing, and bullying, impaired obesity prevention effort, increased health disparities and social inequalities.
The war on obesity, which attempts to scare and shame everyone into dieting, is partly to blame. The diet industry, which falsely suggests that one can choose ones weight on the scale, also contributes to this. In fact, diets rarely work in the long-term.
Research has demonstrated that weight stigma is a global phenomenon, prominent in many countries around the world. Currently, weight stigma is relatively absent from the conversation surrounding obesity. If we are to end obesity stigma, its important to adjust our language and attitudes, raise awareness and improve our knowledge about the impact of weight stigma.
Did you know? Stigma does not just have emotional effects; it can have severe physical effects, social lives and relationships effects. We hoped to raise awareness about this the complexity of weight stigma as part of this years campaign.
Research has shown that language such as high BMI and weight are preferred to words like obese and morbidly obese. Avoid categorising patients by their medical condition. For example, you have obesity as opposed to you are obese. Patients with obesity should be treated with the same level of respect and empathy as their slimmer counterparts.
Actions to address obesity include addressing stigma and misconceptions surrounding obesity. All elements of society have a role to play in reducing obesity and addressing its drivers, from town planners, to schools, to employers to health service providers.
Modern environments encourage and promote unhealthy lifestyles. Obesity is not about individual blame but shared responsibility in society. Telling individuals to eat less, move more is too simplistic: reducing risk requires an integrated approach across different sectors, from our town centres to healthcare settings.
Here are some tips which will help reduce weight stigma: critical and negative labels and references about people with obesity should be avoided; people-first language should be used, i.e. people with obesity as opposed to obese people; images that accompany news stories should not portray individuals with obesity negatively.
Reducing the risk of obesity requires governments to take an integrated approach across different sectors, which should incorporate: implementation of policies which address obesogenic food environments, improving the availability and access to nutritious food and reducing exposure to marketing of less healthy options, have green space and are conducive to more activity as part of peoples daily lives, consideration of health in all policies, to ensure action is taken in all relevant sectors from health, to education, to media and culture, to development and social services.
A positive, supportive narrative between clinicians and their patients will increase the effectiveness of care. Independent on the weight loss method, treating obesity should include realistic weight loss goals without being affected by social pressure or weight stigma, especially since stigma can result in further weight gain and decline health issues related to obesity and overweight.
Research shows that healthcare providers, when talking to obese patients, tend to: provide them with less health information, spend less time with them; view them as undisciplined, annoying, and noncompliant with treatment. In this case, healthcare professionals, nutritionist and dieticians can educate themselves on facts about the complex etiology of obesity and the significant limitations of current behavioural weight loss treatments. Government should commitment to introduce upstream policies to improve the environments we live in rather than focus on individual responsibility and blame.
The writer is a consulting nutritionist at Weight Management Centre
