To think a doctor telling you that you need to lose weight isn't "fat shaming?"

[FrankieDoyle]

Genuinely interested in opinions.
I follow a plus size Instagram blogger/influencer who normally posts about fashion, inspirational quotes etc.

Today she posted about a trip to hospital that she had. The doctors there were apparently unhelpful and told her that they couldn't operate on her because, amongst other reasons, her weight. They told her she would need to lose weight before they could consider it.
I think she's about a size 26-28, from her posts about her wardrobe where she's mentioned the size she wears.

So she posted a video stating that she was sick of being fat shamed, something needs to change, and the doctors don't take her seriously etc.

It got me thinking that actually I disagree with her viewpoint that it's "fat shaming" to inform a patient that they need to lose weight? The doctors have to check that it's safe to perform an operation on someone don't they?

I say this as an overweight person myself (currently a size 20 but following a diet plan and trying to lose weight. )

Maybe I'm wrong I don't know, but it seems unfair to criticise doctors on a public platform with thousands of followers, simply for doing their job.

I understand some doctors can be patronising or seem to focus on a person's weight, and that can't be a nice experience. But I really disagree that it's "fat shaming" actually I quite dislike the phrase being used to criticise these medical professionals.

Which reminds me. My uncle is actually morbidly obese. As wide as tall (he is short) nearly, honestly and I still can't comprehend how he functions. He must weight well over what I did at my haviest and 1-I had issues fitting behind a wheel and 2-my restaurant choices were absolutely made based on how durable their chair looked. I missed out on many nice ones...

I went for my first ivf consultation knowing I was very overweight. The nurse got straight to the point and told me I would need to lose weight. She was very direct and hearing it at a time when I felt vulnerable wasn't easy. I work as a nanny and she even said I would be able to do my job better once I lost the weight. As hard as it was hearing this it's what I needed to hear. I cried my eyes out and pretty much felt rock bottom. I was back in the clinic 10 months later having lost nearly 6 stone. So I am glad that she gave me the cold reality that no one else did. I ended up falling pregnant naturally after losing all the weight too xx

It doesn't sound like fat shaming to me.

Sometimes overweight people go to the doctor for a completely unrelated reason and the doctor brings their weight into it. That's fat shaming. But not when it's relevant.

I was at a museum yesterday and people were negatively commenting on the size of Henry VIII's arse and waist. It made me feel uncomfortable as l thought these are people that probably don't understand the concept of fat shaming. I mean it was just a model so it doesn't matter in that context but ...it wouldn't enter my head to say 'look at that enormous bottom!!' about a model 🙄

@Flatdisco

It's not actually proven weight has a negative impact on health but doctors have been taught this is true and have no reason to learn off their own backs so keep spouting this as truth.

Rubbish

It's not fat shaming but I've definitely seen a habit of HCP not doing a proper investigation into patients issues and leading with "You need to lose weight" before they have all the facts.

On the face of it this case doesn't look like that, if surgery is involved and she's a size 26-28 then presumably that's really dangerous and losing weight before surgery is important.

Sometimes overweight people go to the doctor for a completely unrelated reason and the doctor brings their weight into it. That's fat shaming. But not when it's relevant.

Is it though? Because when I smoked smoking was mentioned even when I went with back pain. It's something what's putting me in a risk of issues so they mention it. Same with eeight

No I would say it's their duty to tell you because regardless of big is beautiful and all that jazz being very overweight does impact on your health and puts you in higher risk categories for certain things.

It’s not fat shaming, it’s medical advice.

I follow a plus sized woman who regularly says being overweight isn’t a medical problem and sees dieting as the enemy.

@Flatdisco

It's not actually proven weight has a negative impact on health but doctors have been taught this is true and have no reason to learn off their own backs so keep spouting this as truth

That’s is 100% untrue it has been explicitly documented and ‘proven’ that obesity is a large cause of many many health complications Including cancer.

I’m also married to an anaesthetist and body weight heavily impacts how hard it is to put you to sleep for an operation. It also increases your risks of complications and death. Just because people don’t want to hear it doesn’t make it untrue.

People who were born biologically male also can’t grow babies, because they don’t have a uterus… medical fact or is that hate speech?

Often it’s the push you need to lose weight. I had a routine medical and my bmi was firmly in the “overweight” category. In my mind I am slim but it had gradually crept on. The nurse was lovely about it but I was horrified. That was Oct 2019 I lost 2 stone by the following January and have kept it off. Totally changed my lifestyle. Very grateful for that wake up call as at 46 I would have got gradually larger if I had drifted on as I was.

Sometimes overweight people go to the doctor for a completely unrelated reason and the doctor brings their weight into it. That's fat shaming. But not when it's relevant.

No it is not, in the same way as they might mention often do a quick check of blood pressure while you are there for something unrelated or if the doctor spotted another visible issue you would expect them to mention it.

As a professional they need to cover their arses professionally. If they don’t mention it or take it into account in treatment and the obese person drops dead of an obesity related condition and there is nothing in the notes to say they mentioned it or considered it there may be liability.

In this situation no, it’s not fat shaming it’s stating facts.

What does stick in my throat is how some HCP can’t see past the weight to diagnose medical issues properly. I suffered for years with various symptoms, every time was told to lose weight. After years and years of pushing back I finally find a doctor who referred me to a specialist who diagnosed me with a condition absolutely not related to my weight. Luckily it isn’t something life threatening but there are stories of missed brain tumours and terminal issues that are overlooked because “lose weight” is the first and only diagnosis some HCP will bother with.

I don’t think this is fat shaming.

However, we do know that lots of HCPs are dismissive of overweight people and that they can take longer to get diagnosed with serious illnesses because many GPs tell them to just ‘lose weight’ instead of investigating symptoms. I read a good, peer reviewed study on this recently but for the life on me cannot find it now!

I am not obese now but have been in the past. I used to follow a lot of plus size bloggers for style advice/clothing tips. And many do look fabulous. But it did start to bother me. Being fat is just not an alternative body shape as is often suggested. It can have real, serious health risks. I remember reading a blog about an influencers trip to New York. All these shots of her looking amazing in beautiful dresses, shorts and dresses. A while later there was another blog saying how had that trip had been for her. How her knees had been agony after all that walking, how tough she had found the heat, how she was unable to do some of the things her slimmer companions enjoyed. She got very mixed comments for that one I think. It wasn’t what many of her followers wanted to hear.

Tbh, it depends

• on the way it was said (Incl tine of voice, general attitude etc etc)
• what sort of help has been given
• what medication that person is on (see the effects of steroids for example)
• what sort of tests have been done to understand the reasons of the weight gain.

Basically telling someone who has hypothyroidism that isn’t well controlled that they need to loose weight wo sorting the thyroid issue is crap (eg if you haven’t checked for autoimmune causes).
Same with hormonal issues, cortisol, MH etc etc

Because, surprise surprise, loosing weight isn’t just about ‘reducing calorie intake and exercising more you know’.

If that person is expecting them to do the surgery regardless, I would also hope that the risks have been laid out to her. Eg if we do the surgery, the risk of you dying in the process is (let’s say) 10%, the risk of you being disabled for life is 45%.
Because atm it sounds like they have no real understanding of the reason iyswim.

@SilverGlitterBaubles

Sometimes overweight people go to the doctor for a completely unrelated reason and the doctor brings their weight into it. That's fat shaming. But not when it's relevant.

No it is not, in the same way as they might mention often do a quick check of blood pressure while you are there for something unrelated or if the doctor spotted another visible issue you would expect them to mention it.

It’s at the very least ticking boxes. ‘Oh ive to.d them they need to loose some weight’ with no support given for said person to actually do so.

That’s worse imo. Because you can be sure they've actually set the person to fail.
Training wouldn’t go amiss tbh.

It's not actually proven weight has a negative impact on health but doctors have been taught this is true and have no reason to learn off their own backs so keep spouting this as truth.
And you, of course, have a peer reviewed source for this grossly inaccurate statement…

@MyCatEatsPrawnCrackers

Oh FFS it isn't 'fat shaming'. Having said that, when I was a size 20, I was advised to lose weight by a nurse who was even fatter than me . My sister also had to see a dietician at the local hospital, as she had been referred due to a medical condition she had and said she struggled to take him seriously as he was very overweight.

no - not easy - but I once had a stick thin dietician who clearly had her own unhealthy issues with food. Over several appointments, the only food she ever expressed a liking for was purple sprouting broccoli (and harped on about the fact it was only in season for a very short season, which from the way she expressed it was part of the attraction for her). When she waffled on about having a daily treat, and cutting a marathon (snickers) bar into seven pieces & having one each day, there was clearly little empathy or understanding.

@Ludo19

I had thyroid surgery and weighed just over 10st at the time. The aftercare nurse said "now you'll need to watch your weight???" Preceeded to give me exercise and dietary advice, even though I trained in a gym as well as horseriding and swimming. Not being rude but she was at least double my weight, so I smiled sweetly and asked if she followed her own advice. Practice what you preach

Wow, nurse tries to advise you that your surgery could affect your weight and you retaliate with a remark like that without knowing you anything about why she was overweight! Smiles sweetly = makes a shitty comeback. You must know the thyroid plays a big part in weight +/- surely, she wasn't commenting on your lifestyle!

I think there is a difference between making you aware of the impact of your weight, and that being the sole focus of every interaction.

I recently met with a consultant - first appointment got a weight lecture, when he came to see me after my op got the same weight lecture, first follow up appointment got the same weight lecture, I must admit that the first thing I said when I attended my second follow up was 'message about weight is heard and understood and I'm not prepared to listen to the lecture again, so can we please just talk about what is actually wrong with me?'.

He had gone way past making me aware that my weight had an impact on my health (which not being an idiot I am well aware of), but it was not relevant to the reason I was seeing him and it genuinely started to feel like he was just enjoying making me feel bad by this point

@Vates Your post demonstrates exactly why real fat shaming is so damaging, and traps people into not being able to do the very thing that non-fat-shaming doctors would like them to do… because most doctors do in fact care about the well being of patients.

I am very sorry that you have been subjected to such bullying and abuse.

Sadly HCPs can’t diagnose which of their patients are bullying and fat-shaming others, because curing them if that nasty habit could work wonders!

Obesity is a health issue. There's no escaping that.
Being very overweight also counts against you if you're seeking to adopt as it suggests an unhealthy lifestyle you could pass onto your xhildren.

Not meaning to minimise a great OP. I’m on Facebook groups for specific dog breeds. There are so many posts that attack vets who dare suggest fluffy is overweight. Pics of fluffy confirm (IMO) the vet is right, the dog needs to loose some weight. What follows are numerous pics of other overweight dogs with the comment ‘see just like mine, perfect’.
Some of us seem to be losing all understanding of what being significantly overweight does to us