Perceived discrimination found equally prevalent among men and women with obesity, according to a new study

A new study from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health found that perceived discrimination is common among patients with obesity, affecting men and women equally. The study included 60 individuals, 62% being women, and focused on two forms of discrimination; acute and chronic. Acute discrimination includes major incidents like unfair job dismissals or denied promotions, while chronic discrimination involves recurring everyday biases. Recently published in Clinical Obesity, the research showed that chronic discrimination was more commonly reported than acute discrimination.

“The prevalence of chronic discrimination reported among most participants in our sample may be attributed to our patient demographics in that most participants had college degrees or graduate degrees, and an annual household income greater than $75,000, so they likely did not have several acute discriminatory experiences such as not being hired,” said first author and School of Public Health graduate ’24, Marianne Olaniran, DrPH, MS, MPH.

The research noted other key findings, including:

Higher BMI correlated positively with acute and chronic discrimination, indicating increased bias at higher BMI levels.

Acute Discrimination:

• Predominantly affected career advancement, with unfair denial of promotions being the most common complaint.
• Men cited weight as the primary reason for acute discrimination.
• Women most frequently attributed acute discrimination to race.

Chronic Discrimination:

• A trend showed men experiencing more verbal insults and overall chronic discrimination.

This study also highlighted the importance of redesigning obesity care to include lived experiences of discrimination. “Healthcare providers and policymakers should recognize that obesity is a multifactorial disease, not a behavioral disorder. This will help to reduce weight bias and stigmatization that is currently associated with obesity,” said Olaniran. “Healthcare providers should ensure that patients with obesity are treated similarly to other patient populations to increase their healthcare engagement and improve their health outcomes. We hope this research can lead to affordable access to approved obesity treatments and support resources in the future.”

The research relied on participants’ self-reported data from a range of men and women with obesity from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds attending an academic obesity program. Researchers assessed the data using the Major Experiences of Discrimination (MED) and the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS). These tests use 19 items to measure the discrimination experiences of individuals in various settings like work, school, and public spaces. Researchers believe using tools like these to measure an individual’s experiences with discrimination, is invaluable because the results can then be used to effect changes in obesity care.

Olaniran added that she would like to see research on obesity continue to explore sex differences in perceived discrimination but recommends that future studies utilize larger sample sizes from disparate sociocultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Olaniran is one of six recipients of the 2024 Weight Watchers Diversity Student Travel Award, which supports students in nutritional science, behavioral weight management, or clinical obesity research to participate in Obesity Week.

Additional authors included School of Public Health faculty Eda G Kapti, MD, MPH; and Marlyn A Allicock, PhD, MPH, and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center faculty Jeffery N Schellinger, MCN, RD, CSOWM; Sarah Messiah, PhD, MPH, FTOS; Jaime P Almandoz, MD, MBA, FTOS; and Sunil Mathew, MS.