And I don’t like to go to funerals.” – Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, instructor of medicine and pediatrics, Harvard Medical School obesity medicine physician, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston No Surprises I lost two patients, one at the age of 11, one at the age of 26 from obstructive sleep apnea, but they both had severe obesity. The results also speak to the bias against people with severe obesity, even among medical professionals. The investigators concluded that a possible reason for the underutilization of weight loss surgery in this patient population is a lack of education and awareness among healthcare providers and the public regarding surgical treatment of obesity. Stanford and her collaborators Karen Campoverde-Reyes, MD, a research fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and Madhusmita Misra, MD, MPH, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and chief of pediatric endocrinology at Massachusetts General Hospital, at ENDO 2018 presented results from their study that found only a small percentage of teenagers and young adults with severe obesity undergo weight loss surgery even though it’s considered the most effective long-term weight loss therapy. If a pediatric patient has severe obesity early in life, it means an earlier onset of comorbid conditions, which means they’re going to have a higher degree of morbidity and earlier mortality, not to mention an impacted socio-economic status, increased risk of depression, decreased quality of life, and so on. “And we do know that they have a lower likelihood of acceptance into advance degree programs.” “Persons who have severe obesity are often overlooked or undervalued with regards to their working environment,” Stanford says. There remains a significant bias against people with obesity and severe obesity. Severe obesity continues to trend upward, and along with the physical comorbidities like type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, and heart disease, severe obesity carries with it other intangibles.
She had gone to a local retailer to apply for a job and was quickly told she would not qualify for the position.
When this young woman first came to the clinic, she told Stanford about her struggles to find a job. One of her young adult patients presented to her clinic with a BMI of 58. Researchers have found that institutions perform too few weight loss surgeries on young people with severe obesity, even though weight loss surgery is the best tool for long-term weight loss.įatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, an instructor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, treats children and young adults with severe obesity – defined as having a body mass index (BMI) above 40.There remains a bias against patients with severe obesity, even in the medical community.Severe obesity in younger patients means not only an earlier onset of comorbidities, but an impacted socio-economic status and decreased quality of life.Providers need to re-evaluate their own biases when treating these patients in terms of how could improve various quality-of-life factors as well as the young patient’s health. While surgery has shown to be the most effective tool in combating obesity, younger patients are not being offered this option.