very overweight people avoid doctors for routine medical checks

Ukmedix News recently reported on a survey which showed that there is a significant stigmatisation and discrimination that is very prevalent towards overweight and obese people. What makes this discrimination and negative perception worse is that it is also very much present among doctors and medical professionals who are the very people who should be helping people with weight problems.

New research shows that obese individuals in Scotland are refraining from getting help from doctors and asking about life changing treatments because they are afraid of being judged badly by the medical establishment.  In some cases the treatments that they need are lifesaving ones yet they still find it difficult to pluck up the courage to make a visit to a doctor.

At a medical conference arranged by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh it was made clear that around 24,000 obese Scottish people would greatly benefit from weight loss surgery but that only a tiny proportion of around one percent were actually being operated on because of a lack of resources. It is also likely that an obesity bias is preventing the correct advice and treatment being given to the people who need it.

It may also be that very overweight people avoid doctors for routine medical checks because of the concern that they may well be berated about their weight and thus serious illnesses go unchecked. This goes to show that the medical issues of obesity extend far further than the obvious obesity related illnesses. Obese individuals tend to lack confidence which further undermines their insistence on proper medical care.

The conference also discussed how weight loss surgery which is often used as a last resort treatment can be clinically effective and also end up being cost effective in the long term. Despite the government saying that weight loss surgery is expensive it may be that by utilising it more often they will end up saving in the long term due to a lower proportion of obesity related illnesses such as cardio disease, hypertension, cancer and diabetes.