Negative opinions and expressions, even if they can be expressed in good faith, to encourage people to change, are instead, and often, deleterious
How much does the (pre) judgment on weight affect a person’s overall assessment? And what consequences does all this have on your mental and physical health? To these questions tried to answer one international study (born from a 2020 International Consensus statement calling for the elimination of weight stigma, supported by over one hundred medical and scientific organizations) in which nearly 14,000 people were interviewed in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and United States.
Self-evaluation
Over 50% of the subjects interviewed reported having suffered this stigma and among these, especially those who ended up with self-stigmatization, said he rarely asked for medical assistance, underwent checks less frequently than necessary and, above all, did not receive due attention (and respect) from doctors. Probably not the least cause of the reluctance to be examined and undergo clinical examinations. But it wasn’t just doctors who stood out in the negative. High percentages of respondents experienced discrimination due to their own weight from family members (76-88%), classmates (72-81%), colleagues (54-62%) and friends (49 to 66%). In all countries, negative experiences were more frequent in childhood and adolescence.
I study
The results of the study, published in theInternational Journal of Obesity and on PlosOne, show that there are many more similarities than differences between different nations in the nature, frequency and sources of experiences of stigma. What emerges from this vast survey is undoubtedly a disheartening picture, and unfortunately the situation in Italy is not different from that reported in these countries, comments Stefano Erzegovesi, head of the Center for Eating Disorders at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan.
Doctors and family members
Why is it that doctors, parents and family members in general are at the forefront of those who weigh the weight? In many cases, I believe that the conviction is still very strong that terrifying or judgmental statements, such as: “if you continue like this you won’t even be able to walk”, or: “but do you never look in the mirror?” well”. These phrases are spoken in the belief that they can encourage people to change their lifestyle. And this is also true, albeit to a lesser extent, as the research data underline, even when they come from colleagues and friends.
The wrong comments
What happens when comments of this kind are made or heard? Positive change never, ever occurs. In reverse perceiving a negative judgment produces a sense of shame, but also a challenge, which encourages you to eat even more. Furthermore, an evaluation of his own body based on the judgment of others is strengthened in the person concerned, which represents the exact opposite of what it takes to get in touch with oneself and be able to listen to the internal sensations of hunger and satiety.
What to say
What could be said to really help? First of all, we should conceive the body as something sacred and think of every judgment of disvalue as a blasphemy, especially in childhood., when self-identity is still very fragile. Among the risk factors for obesity and eating disorders, stigma is certainly not the only factor, but the most easily avoidable.
Affected also those suffering from anorexia
Can the prejudices that affect those who are extremely overweight also concern those suffering from a form of anorexia? Even in the case of anorexia we often find judgmental and clumsy comments: “how have you reduced or reduced … but look at yourself, you don’t see that you look like a skeleton”. It goes without saying that, exactly as in the case of judgmental comments that are too often addressed to obese people, these are useless and harmful words, linked to the sense of fear and helplessness of those who utter them.
December 26, 2021 (change December 26, 2021 | 13:19)
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