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Why obese doctors should still give weight-loss advice

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February 06, 2012|By Deborah Kotz

Would you take nutrition advice from an overweight registered dietitian? How about hiring a fitness trainer who’s fat?

Many of us would say no, and that’s why we shouldn’t be too surprised by a new Johns Hopkins School of Public Health survey of 500 primary care physicians, which found that those who were overweight were less likely to make a diagnosis of obesity or engage their patients in weight discussions than their counterparts who were at a normal weight.

About 30 percent of the physicians who weren’t overweight brought up weight-loss discussions with their overweight or obese patients compared with 18 percent of overweight doctors.

I wasn’t surprised that thinner doctors had a greater confidence in their ability to provide dietary advice and exercise counseling than those who were overweight or that both groups believed their overweight patients would be more likely to trust advice that came from a doctor who could serve as a thin role model.

But I think the survey should serve as a wake-up call to both doctors and patients that we need to accept our medical providers as humans and that whatever weight issues they may have doesn’t detract from their medical abilities. D.K.

urkiddinme wrote: I remember when my family’s obese pediatrician told my mother that my 9-year-old brother “could stand to lose 10 pounds.’’ My mother replied, “You could stand to lose 75,’’ and left the office and found a new doctor.