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Patient Perspective: Living With Weight-Based Stigma

Patient Perspective: Living With Weight-Based Stigma 1024 376 Alaina Doklovic

In 2019, 15-year-old Paige watched her father die from a disease that was consistently ignored, and his symptoms repeatedly blamed on his weight. He had stage 4 cancer by the time he was properly diagnosed.

Shortly after his death, her mother had a 40-pound cyst removed, a surgery that she and other doctors believe could have been prevented had her medical providers looked past her weight and listened to her concerns.

Now, Paige faces the same stigma in the clinic. For years she has been experiencing knee pain. She says that physicians constantly blame the pain on her weight, even though her pain has gotten progressively worse since she lost weight.

Every time she goes into a doctor’s appointment, she repeats this mantra: “My symptoms are valid, and my weight does not define me.”

The stigma she, her family, and patients just like her have experienced has taken a toll on her mental health and well-being. She says she experiences it in the clinic where she works — in addition to times when she’s the patient.

Now that she’s working with the team at the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Paige is focusing on her whole health — physical and mental. She’s also become a champion for meeting weight-based discrimination head-on and challenging stigmas associated with body size. Talking about what she and her family have experienced is just the first step.

“Dr. Chaves has been an amazing part of helping me learn to respect myself and stand up for myself in the clinic. It’s amazing how much progress I’ve made in the last three years,” she says. “She taught me that just because you live life in a larger body, that does not mean that’s all you are. Advocate for yourself and stand against the discrimination. Know your rights as a patient and know that you deserve to be treated with respect.”

This article appeared in the Fall/Winter 2024 issue. Download the full issue.

Read More About Weight-Based Stigmas and How to Make a Difference

Image credits: Nationwide Children’s

About the author

Alaina Doklovic is a Marketing Specialist for Research Communications at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She received her BS in medical anthropology and English from The Ohio State University. Her passions for science and health, combined with her desire to help others, motivated her to pursue a career in which she could actively help improve patient outcomes and scientific research through writing.

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