TY - JOUR
T1 - Weight stigma after bariatric surgery
T2 - A qualitative study with Brazilian women
AU - Dimitrov Ulian, Mariana
AU - Fernandez Unsain, Ramiro
AU - Rocha Franco, Ruth
AU - Aurélio Santo, Marco
AU - Brewis, Alexandra
AU - Trainer, Sarah
AU - SturtzSreetharan, Cindi
AU - Wutich, Amber
AU - Gualano, Bruno
AU - Baeza Scagliusi, Fernanda
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding:ThisworkwassupportedbytheSão PauloResearchFoundation(FAPESP),grant number2019/00031-0,grantedtoMariana DimitrovUlian.Inaddition,FernandaBaeza ScagliusireceivedgrantbyFAPESP(grantnumber 2017/17424-9)andCNPq(grantnumber309514/ 2018-5).Thefundershadnoroleinstudydesign, datacollectionandanalysis,decisiontopublish,or preparationofthemanuscript.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), grant number 2019/00031-0, granted to Mariana Dimitrov Ulian. In addition, Fernanda Baeza Scagliusi received grant by FAPESP (grant number 2017/17424-9) and CNPq (grant number 309514/ 2018-5). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Dimitrov Ulian et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - Prior studies suggest that one anticipated benefit of bariatric surgery is the achievement of a thinner body, one that is less subject to perceived negative judgment and condemnation by others. However, additional analyses also indicate that stigma may persist even with significant post-surgery weight loss. To investigate the stigma-related perceptions and experiences of women who have undergone bariatric surgery and the resulting body transformations, we conducted individual, semi-structured interviews with thirty Brazilian women (15 aged 33–59 and 15 aged 63–72). The resulting text was then analyzed using thematic analysis. We found that some form of weight stigma persisted for our participants, regardless of weight loss. Ongoing experiences of stigma were also evidenced by the constant internal and external vigilance reported by the women, as well as their articulated efforts to distance themselves from their previous bodies. Additionally, participants reported being judged for choosing an “easy way out” to lose weight. Those in the older group reported that weight stigma was entangled with ageism: older participants received mixed messages underscoring the ways that weight and age may interact in doubly stigmatizing ways. Family and close peers were especially powerful sources of stigma experiences. Collectively, these results show that weight stigma persists even when people undergo a procedure to lose substantive weight and that the degree and types of stigma experiences are influenced by gender and age. Our study suggest future research should explore whether a targeted approach might be more effective, for example, an approach that would emphasize the importance of developing coping strategies with respect to experiences of stigma and discrimination after surgery.
AB - Prior studies suggest that one anticipated benefit of bariatric surgery is the achievement of a thinner body, one that is less subject to perceived negative judgment and condemnation by others. However, additional analyses also indicate that stigma may persist even with significant post-surgery weight loss. To investigate the stigma-related perceptions and experiences of women who have undergone bariatric surgery and the resulting body transformations, we conducted individual, semi-structured interviews with thirty Brazilian women (15 aged 33–59 and 15 aged 63–72). The resulting text was then analyzed using thematic analysis. We found that some form of weight stigma persisted for our participants, regardless of weight loss. Ongoing experiences of stigma were also evidenced by the constant internal and external vigilance reported by the women, as well as their articulated efforts to distance themselves from their previous bodies. Additionally, participants reported being judged for choosing an “easy way out” to lose weight. Those in the older group reported that weight stigma was entangled with ageism: older participants received mixed messages underscoring the ways that weight and age may interact in doubly stigmatizing ways. Family and close peers were especially powerful sources of stigma experiences. Collectively, these results show that weight stigma persists even when people undergo a procedure to lose substantive weight and that the degree and types of stigma experiences are influenced by gender and age. Our study suggest future research should explore whether a targeted approach might be more effective, for example, an approach that would emphasize the importance of developing coping strategies with respect to experiences of stigma and discrimination after surgery.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0287822
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0287822
M3 - Article
C2 - 37498887
AN - SCOPUS:85165923160
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 18
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 7 July
M1 - e0287822
ER -