Stigmatization and Discrimination of Obese Patients by Healthcare Workers: A Global Healthcare Issue

Abstract

Obesity is a chronic, metabolic disease that stems from an imbalanced calorie intake and can be influenced by genetic, environmental and individual factors. Obesity and its complications are among the major global health issues of the 21st century. Many s tudies have confirmed that obese individuals evoke negative emotions in others, such as disgust, repulsion or even anger. Search was performed on two databases: PubMed and Google Scholar. The following keywords were used: “obesity”, “obese”, “patient”, “stigma”, “weight bias”, “healthcare”, “healthcare professionals”, “medical professionals”, “discrimination”, “fatphobia”. The majority of the articles come from 2013-2023, and no language restriction was applied. Medical personnel often display negative attitudes toward obese patients, which negatively affects the patient’s health and the quality of received care. Currently available literature suggests the occurrence of obesity and weight stigma in many countries around the globe, such as: Poland, Germany, Brazil, USA, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Israel, and Australia. Both medical personnel and medical students display examples of stigma behaviors. Despite the prevalence of obesity, people with excessive body weight often face social disapproval and discrimination. This stigmatizing behavior can also occur among medical personnel. There is a need to eliminate these negative attitudes and beliefs within the medical community.