‘Last acceptable form of bigotry:’ Top doctor hopes to reduce obesity stigma

Believing more dialogue is necessary on the widespread issue, Chatham-Kent’s top physician hopes to reduce stigma associated with obesity.

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Shanker Nesathurai, acting medical officer of health, raised the issue as part of his verbal update to the health board last week.

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Similar to other jurisdictions in North America, many Chatham-Kent residents are overweight according to medical definitions.

“Sixty-five per cent of the people in this health district, Chatham-Kent, are overweight or obese. Two out of three,” Nesathurai said.

“Despite the prevalence of the condition, people with obesity experience stigma.”

He said many people are often dismissed as “lazy, lacking self-control” or having lower intelligence.

“And I would say many doctors are guilty of this. People who are overweight have their medical problems dismissed… all related to their weight.

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“Our discrimination against people with unhealthy weights is the last remaining acceptable form of bigotry. Somehow, we just look past that type of bigotry.”

From a medical point of view, obesity is defined using the body-mass index (BMI), which Nesathurai called an imperfect tool subject to much criticism.

He noted he is technically overweight according to his BMI.

“Obesity is not what you eat or how much activity you do,” he said. “That’s the old way of thinking about it… Obesity is a much more complicated phenomenon.

“(It’s) related to many things… The numbers vary, but I’m thinking one half of it is genetic.”

Nesathurai, who came into the role last year, has often used the verbal update portion of the meeting to raise public awareness on a variety of health issues and trends.

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Last month, he touched on the impact of loneliness on a person’s mental and physical well-being, especially in more isolated rural communities.

Nesathurai said more conversation is needed on obesity and overweightness.

“Here’s my prescription. The treatment for stigma is dialogue,” he said. “It’s breaking taboo. The same approaches that we did collectively to manage the HIV crisis.”

He said a change in vocabulary would also go a long way, noting many terms are outdated.

One example is the evolution of words previously used to described those with disabilities, Nesathurai added.

“In clinical practice, I really want to advance health,” he said. “I don’t really care about labeling people.

“We can all reflect on our ideas, and our speech and our attitudes… We can reflect what’s a more modern way of interacting with people who experience challenges with their weight.”

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