Stop Dreading Medical Appointments
Weight stigma is a barrier to care. This post provides weight-inclusive resources to empower your next medical appointment.
Addressing weight stigma at a diabetes or medical appointment can be hard, explains Lindsey Ahlert, MS RD, owner of Lindsey Ahlert Nutrition. I recently talked with her about self-advocating at a medical appointment if getting weighed is triggering for you.
Challenge Accepted
Regardless of any health issue, advocating for yourself is a learned skill. It takes time and practice to tell anyone what you want and need, let alone your medical provider.
Whether you have seen weight stigma for a day or decade, it is part of medical care. Weight stigma is the belief that being fat is wrong. Lindsey explained, “I often hear clients describe anxiety and apprehension about being weighed at their medical clinics. The number itself can be triggering, the process can feel forced and involuntary, and the reaction by care providers can be belittling.
There is often no medical necessity for measuring body weight. However, in some cases, this measurement is needed to dose specific medications, monitor cardiac or kidney issues, or eating disorder recovery.” In these cases, Lindsey encourages you to ask your doctor why being weighed is medically necessary. This will help you understand your medical care and provide informed consent.
Hundreds of factors contribute to your weight, and most you don’t have direct control over. These include genetics, early childhood experiences, medical conditions, medications, social factors, chronic stress, and, ironically, a history of intentional weight loss. Lindsey shared a great website called #NoWeight. I was impressed by the resources this site offers.
Bravery Required
When you go to a medical appointment, there are many expectations. Standing up and advocating for yourself is complicated. Maybe you are afraid that if you complain, you won’t get good care. This can also reinforce and trigger the sense of being excluded or othered.
This means it takes bravery and support to get your needs met. I was excited to learn from Lindsey about other resources written by fat advocates that go beyond the simple "Just tell them you don’t want to be weighed" suggestion.
Speaking up isn’t always easy. For example, my friend Bev recently shared her experience at the endocrinology office. Bev explained, "Even though I am in the medical field when I had to step on the scale in a busy medical office, the shame of my internalized weight stigma hit me." Here is a link to Bev's story.
Learning about other people's experiences helps you explore and understand what, when, and how you have been touched by weight stigma. Hearing other people's experiences lets you see that this is a global issue and that you are not alone. It also provides ideas for advocating for yourself at your next medical visit.
Patience
It takes time and support to understand how weight stigma can manifest. If starting every diabetes care visit with getting weighed is triggering and a barrier to care, these websites can help. Each site explains why and how weight stigma appears at the doctor's office. It also offers many helpful tips to guide you in your medical care so you can avoid feeling pressured to be weighed.
Working with a weight-inclusive dietitian like Lindsey Ahlert can help. Here are her top resources:
Self-Advocacy Cards from MoreLove.org
What to say at the doctor’s office from Weight and Health Newsletters
Nourish, a virtual nutrition counseling service, has these No Wt Cards.