Fats shaming within the physician's workplace will be mentally and bodily dangerous
"Disrespectful treatment and medical fat shaming, in an attempt to motivate people to change their behavior, is stressful and can cause patients to delay health care seeking or avoid interacting with providers," presenter Joan Chrisler, PhD, a professor of psychology at Connecticut College, said during a symposium titled "Weapons of Mass Distraction -- Confronting Sizeism." Sizeism can also have an effect on how doctors medically treat patients, as overweight people are often excluded from medical research based on assumptions about their health status, Chrisler said, meaning the standard dosage for drugs may not be appropriate for larger body sizes. Recent studies have shown frequent under-dosing of overweight patients who were prescribed antibiotics and chemotherapy, she added. "Recommending different treatments for patients with the same condition based on their weight is unethical and a form of malpractice," Chrisler said. "Research has sho...