Abstract
The societal stigma of obesity, consisting of negative attitudes towards people with higher than normal weight, is reflected in the interpersonal sphere and other aspects of life. For example, people with obesity have lower salaries and are disadvantaged in job interviews.
Prejudice and negative attitudes towards overweight and obese people are also found among health professionals, delaying the initiation of early treatment and can have other negative effects on both the mental and physical health of patients, and lead to avoidance of visiting the doctor, which undermines trust and the patient-doctor relationship. Obesity treatment is usually initiated with a conversation, which can be a useful initial intervention even in its simplest form.
However, both health professionals and patients often report apprehension about initiating such a conversation. The most common barriers cited by clinicians for avoiding the initial conversation are fear of making the patient feel offended, lack of time, knowledge and experience, lack of consensus on appropriate word choice, and beliefs about the small effect of their intervention.