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Obese Feel Social Discrimination
Reported June 24, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – When obese people hear they need to exercise and
eat a healthier diet, it may be doing more harm than good.
Researchers from Australia say obese people feel “a culture of blame”
against them, which they say has grown worse with media reports about the
health risks of obesity. The results are based on one-hour personal
interviews with 76 obese people – 62 females, 14 males – ages 16 to 72.
“Obese people frequently feel overwhelmed and disheartened by the publicity
about their condition,” lead author, Paul Komesaroff, M.D., Ph.D., Monash
University in Melbourne, was quoted as saying. “They often feel disrespected
and not understood by medical practitioners. Our participants express the
view very forcefully that they feel victimized by current social attitudes
about obesity. To be told that, in addition to the problems that they
recognize only too well, they are now regarded as ‘sick’ is unlikely to
assist them to find a solution.”
The report finds participants have a hard time acting on the advice about
loosing weight. Most of them said they tried weight loss remedies their
physicians recommended and were generally dissatisfied with the help from
doctors.
Komesaroff believes the reason health care providers’ efforts don’t work is
because they don’t understand the key social and psychological issues obese
people face.
Results show nearly half of the participants said they had poor mental and
emotional health – including depression – related to their weight. Almost
all of them said they had been humiliated and discriminated against either
in childhood or as adults. More than 25 percent said they regularly tried to
lose weight quickly by not eating for periods, essentially “starving”
themselves.
Researchers say health care providers should do a more thorough assessment
of the individual needs of obese patients and pay closer attention to their
social and psychological issues.
SOURCE: The Endocrine Society’s 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco,
June 2-15, 2008 |
