“‘It’s Because You’re Fat’ — And Other Lies My Doctors Told Me”
“I can’t help but think that there’s a whole lot of physical pain I could have avoided if any of the medical professionals I saw had considered the fact that I might have a sporting injury. And I can’t help but wonder if the reason they didn’t has to do with my weight.
When doctors looked at me, they didn’t see a girl who danced, cycled, and played team sports. They saw a fat girl — and they based their diagnosis on stereotypes about what that meant. I’m 29 now, and my knees no longer hurt. I don’t need them replaced — but if I’d listened to the weight-prejudiced opinions of my doctors, I might have.
This story is hardly unique…
Stigmatization may also, problematically, stop fat people from seeking out medical care in the first place.
“I just don’t go to the doctor,” says Anita, a 28-year-old advertising executive. The last time Anita saw a doctor, it was a routine visit to discuss vaccinations and anti-malarial medication for an upcoming overseas trip. The doctor prescribed the vaccines, and asked a nurse to administer the jabs. It was the nurse who decided Anita had diabetes — without having spoken to her, or seeing anything pertaining to her medical history…
Doctors are highly educated people, but they’re subject to the same biases as the rest of us, and many of them don’t stay up to date with the latest research. That’s not good enough. If obesity really is a major health concern, it’s essential that doctors stay educated on recent studies and metastudies that look at how to get the best outcomes for fat patients. If doctors really do care about their patients, they need to start looking at the overall picture of a person’s health, not simply the size of their body.”
I’ve had conversations about this with friends who are overweight, and who almost universally get more exercise than I do, who actively put off going to the doctor because they will have to wade through a lecture about their weight before they will be able to get care.
I remember when I was really ill, but I’d lost 15–20 pounds after a bad reaction to some antibiotics and people kept telling me how healthy I seemed. Later that year I had a conversation with a friend of mine who had just become a doctor, who was having trouble respecting fat patients.
Our society’s size-bias is so intense that it can fundamentally obscure reality.
Related: “THE PRIVILEGE OF ASSUMING IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU”; “Our Absurd Fear of Fat”; “The Questionable Link Between Saturated Fat and Heart Disease”; “What your fat friend needs from you.”
