Prevention: Doctor’s Weight Affects Obesity Diagnoses

In this article posted in the New York Times, the research findings concluded that overweight doctors may be less likely than other physicians to discuss diet and exercise with patients, and less likely to make a diagnosis of obesity. The researchers surveyed a random sample of 498 general practitioners and internists, more than half of whom were overweight themselves, about their diagnosis and treatment of overweight patients. They found that at times, doctors more frequently made a diagnosis of obesity when a patient’s weight was higher than their own, and overweight doctors were less likely to believe a patient would follow their diet advice.

This brings me back to what I had previously discussed in an earlier post, where obesity is becoming more of social norm in today’s society. What I take away from this article is that doctors who are overweight feel that they may not need to address the topic of obesity to many of their clients, due to the simple fact that they are overweight. Perhaps they wake up every day and they see themselves in the mirror, thus they are used to seeing themselves as overweight or obese, in return they don't address this topic to their patients because they have it fixated in their head that being overweight or obese is somewhat normal. Perhaps they are more concerned with addressing topics that are related to obesity such as high blood pressure or diabetes. In return they prescribe medicine to their patients to lower high blood pressure or treat diabetes, when in reality the first step to help reduce a lot of these problems is addressing the patients eating habits and daily routines.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/health/research/overweight-doctors-less-likely-to-address-obesity.html?_r=1