A large body of indisputable evidence shows that a certain treatment, commonly advocated by all healthcare professionals for a highly prevalent chronic medical condition, is associated with detrimental effects on health and an increased risk of mortality. This ‘treatment’, which needs eradicating from healthcare settings, is weight stigma.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Wu, Y. K. & Berry, D. C. Impact of weight stigma on physiological and psychological health outcomes for overweight and obese adults: A systematic review. J. Adv. Nurs. 74, 1030–1042 (2018).
Jackson, S. E., Beeken, R. J. & Wardle, J. Perceived weight discrimination and changes in weight, waist circumference, and weight status. Obesity (Silver Spring) 22, 2485–2488 (2014).
Rubino, F. et al. Joint international consensus statement for ending stigma of obesity. Nat. Med. 26, 485–497 (2020).
Nagpal, T. S., Tomiyama, A. J. & Incollingo Rodriguez, A. C. Beyond BMI: pregnancy-related weight stigma increases risk of gestational diabetes. Prim. Care Diabetes 15, 1107–1109 (2021).
Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y. & Terracciano, A. Weight discrimination and risk of mortality. Psychol. Sci. 26, 1803–1811 (2015).
Sagi-Dain, L., Echar, M. & Paska-Davis, N. Experiences of weight stigmatization in the Israeli healthcare system among overweight and obese individuals. Isr. J. Health Policy Res. 11, 5 (2022).
Puhl, R. M., Lessard, L. M., Himmelstein, M. S. & Foster, G. D. The roles of experienced and internalized weight stigma in healthcare experiences: Perspectives of adults engaged in weight management across six countries. PLoS One 16, e0251566 (2021).
Alessi, J. et al. Diabetes and obesity bias: are we intensifying the pharmacological treatment in patients with and without obesity with equity? Diabetes Care 44, e206–e208 (2021).
Adams, C. H., Smith, N. J., Wilbur, D. C. & Grady, K. E. The relationship of obesity to the frequency of pelvic examinations: do physician and patient attitudes make a difference? Women Health 20, 45–57 (1993).
Phelan, S. M. et al. The adverse effect of weight stigma on the well-being of medical students with overweight or obesity: findings from a national survey. J. Gen. Intern. Med. 30, 1251–1258 (2015).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
R.L.B. is a trustee of the Obesity Empowerment Network UK, a trustee of the Association for the Study of Obesity, a committee member of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society, a committee member of the National Bariatric Surgery Registry and a special advisor for obesity for the Royal College of Physicians.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Batterham, R.L. Weight stigma in healthcare settings is detrimental to health and must be eradicated. Nat Rev Endocrinol 18, 387–388 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-022-00686-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-022-00686-3
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
The perceptions of healthcare practitioners on obesity management in Peninsular Malaysia: a cross-sectional survey
BMC Health Services Research (2023)
-
Eating Disorder Screening and Treatment in a Medically Underserved Southern State: Data Collected by a Legislative Eating Disorder Council and Implications for Statewide Assessment
Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research (2023)
-
At the 2022 Congress on Obesity
Nature Reviews Endocrinology (2022)