Podcast Episode 196: The Disease of Obesity & Weight Bias in Healthcare – Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford

Disclosure: This episode is not sponsored, however both the host (Melissa Joy Dobbins) and the guest (Dr. Stanford) are compensated members of an advisory board for Gelesis.

Obesity, Pre-Obesity, Health Disparities and the Importance of Early Treatment

Researchers are learning more about the etiology of obesity and investigating different treatment strategies. Early treatment is crucial, but there are many barriers to this including acknowledging obesity as a disease, health disparities, and access to treatment.”

An unmet medical need exists in obesity and pre-obesity (overweight). While 80% of healthcare professionals recognize obesity as a “disease” only 65% of patients with obesity recognize its seriousness and only 38% of people with obesity reported discussing a weight loss plan with their healthcare provider within the past six months. Likewise, clinicians report a reluctancy to initiate conversations about weight management due to lack of time during visits and other health issues to address.¹

The truth is this: if weight bias in healthcare, health disparities and access to treatment are addressed there are many credible treatment options available that can help the more than 70% of U.S. adults with overweight and obesity.²

Tune in to this episode to learn about:

• Why obesity is a “disease” and how both healthcare professionals and patients need to recognize this in order to maximize treatment
• Pre-obesity and why language matters in conversations around overweight and obesity
• Why healthcare providers may be reluctant to initiate conversations about weight with their patients
• Weight stigma and bias among healthcare professionals and patients themselves
• Health disparities in overweight and obesity
• The importance of early treatment, treatment options, and access to these options
• What patients and healthcare professionals can do to decrease stigma and improve treatment of overweight and obesity

We need to think about the language we use when we are talking about obesity. We need to refer to people in a respectful way – for example instead of ‘an obese person’ we can say ‘a person with obesity’ – because the word ‘obese’ is a label and ‘obesity’ is a disease.”

1 Kaplan LM, Golden A, Jinnett K, Kolotkin RL, Kyle TK, Look M, Nadglowski J, O’Neil PM, Parry T, Tomaszewski KJ, Stevenin B, Lilleøre SK, Dhurandhar NV. Perceptions of Barriers to Effective Obesity Care: Results from the National ACTION Study. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2018 Jan;26(1):61-69. doi: 10.1002/oby.22054. Epub 2017 Oct 31. PMID: 29086529.

2 Ward ZJ, Bleich SN, Cradock AL, Barrett JL, Giles CM, Flax C, Long MW, Gortmaker SL. Projected U.S. State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity and Severe Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2019 Dec 19;381(25):2440-2450. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa1909301. PMID: 31851800.

Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, MBA, FAAP, FACP, FAHA, FAMWA, FTOS

Dr. Stanford practices and teaches at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/ Harvard Medical School (HMS) as one of the first fellowship-trained obesity medicine physicians in the world. Dr. Stanford received her BS and MPH from Emory University as a MLK Scholar, her MD from the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine as a Stoney Scholar, her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a Zuckerman Fellow in the Harvard Center for Public Leadership, and her executive MBA as a merit-based scholarship recipient from the Quantic School of Business and Technology. She completed her Obesity Medicine & Nutrition Fellowship at MGH/HMS after completing her internal medicine and pediatrics residency at the University of South Carolina. She has served as a health communications fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as a behavioral sciences intern at the American Cancer Society. Upon completion of her MPH, she received the Gold Congressional Award, the highest honor that Congress bestows upon America’s youth. Dr. Stanford has completed a medicine and media internship at the Discovery Channel.

Dr. Stanford is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including:

• American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation Leadership Award in 2005
• AMA Paul Ambrose Award for national leadership among resident physicians in 2009
• Joseph E. Johnson Leadership Award by The American College of Physicians (ACP) in 2013
• AMA Inspirational Physician Award in 2015
• Young Leadership Award by the Massachusetts ACP in 2015
• HMS Amos Diversity Award and Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) Award for Women’s Health in 2017
• Suffolk District Community Clinician of the Year in 2019
• Reducing Health Disparities Award for MMS in 2019
• The Obesity Society Clinician of the Year in 2020
• MMS Grant Rodkey Award for her dedication to medical students in 2021
• AMA Edmond and Rima Cabbabe Dedication to the Profession Award in 2021
• Emory Rollins School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Award in 2021