It is not easy to live as an obese individual. Things that most of us don't even think of can have traumatic consequences for them. "Alas, if they don't accept me!" There are many reasons for unhappiness in their lives, up to the panic. Studies show that it is the words that hurt them the most. "Eat little!" These people, whom we pushed to a deadlock by saying, need our understanding, not our stigmatization. If we want to say "stop" to this epidemic, we must also manage to touch the souls of those with a heavy role.
If we are going to deal with the obesity problem, the first thing we need to know is that obesity is not only a risk factor for diseases, but also the disease itself. It is not easy to say "stop" to this problem that grows like an avalanche. We know this as we rank first in obesity disease in Europe. The huge increase in obesity, 34% in women and 107% in men in the last 12 years, has brought us to a peak we do not want. While this problem is discussed in terms of diseases, its effect on discrimination and stigmatization seems to be neglected. However, we now know that obesity should be handled with a multifaceted approach under doctor control, and even one of these multiple approaches should not be neglected.
The Learning’s of the Book "My Role Heavy"
First areas addressed in detail issues of stigma and discrimination in obesity individuals in US "My role heavy" book allows us to face the facts that we are not fully aware of by doing it. The book presents shocking facts about the negativities that obese individuals are exposed to by revealing the situations that limit the lives of these individuals, prevent their future plans and make it difficult for them to produce new ways.
What are your findings that enable us to understand that the aspect of this problem that causes mental problems and traumas is neglected in individuals with obesity as much as the physical disease dimension?
When it comes to obesity, firstly physical and concrete things such as diet, fast food, poor fitness, large size clothes come to mind; Emotional dimensions, especially despair, unhappiness, and depression, are often ignored. However, obesity patients experience difficulties such as emotional emptiness and exclusion as well as hypertension, heart disease or diabetes. This situation sometimes reaches such dimensions that it is a dream for an obese individual to wear a 'white dress with fluttering skirts', which is common for most people. These individuals are forced to live in a world decided for themselves.
Am I A Side Character In Life?
Participants said, 'Am I really a side character in life?', 'Can I never be the leading role of love?', 'Since obesity is a deficit that is noticed at first glance, I always have to work twice and prove myself'. We saw that they struggled with a lot of problems. When individuals who do not consider themselves worthy of being healthy, loved and admired because of their excess weight go shopping, they say, "This did not happen, is there a size bigger?" They explained that even asking them was a trauma, and when they found a suitable outfit, it became a permanent uniform. Obese individuals, who define traveling by sitting in urban transportation vehicles as a luxury, have given up their hopes of change so much that they accepted it as a situation they had to endure.
Living in US obesity most frequently voiced their complaints about what to stigmatization and discrimination of individuals?
Participants who stated that they had difficulty in finding suitable clothes for them, said 'We do not choose clothes, clothes choose us' and say that their options are very limited.
They state that when they go to the store to meet their clothing needs, they can never achieve a satisfactory combination in the color-size-price trio.
Oversized clothes are located in the farthest and most remote corner of the store, so they feel like they are doing illegal business.
People around them ask "Do I have a right to this?" without questioning themselves, interfering with what and how much they eat, and then say to themselves, "For your sake!" he argues.
What was said by the healthcare professionals in the hospitals they went to get health service; 'If you grab your throat a little', 'Look at you!' They are subjected to judgmental and hurtful sentences such as.
Job applications are rejected regardless of the job description, due to the evaluation of physical appearance before professional qualification. (especially women)
They are subjected to pressure from family elders (especially daughters) that they cannot marry because of their overweight.
In movies and TV series, overweight characters generally act as side characters and do not play the leading role of a love. These individuals are presented as either very intelligent and creative, or as if they had to be naive and funny.
What are the most striking things about discrimination and stigma among young people and adults?
When we look at the answers given by young people, it is understood that they encounter stigmatizing practices mostly in media and social life. For example, they are not active in social media they use heavily, they prefer to share portrait photos instead of full-size photos. When they meet with their friends, their place preferences are more comfortable places with comfortable seats or chairs than places that cook well. Adults' concerns are mainly about health and business life. Individuals whose job applications are rejected because of their overweight are faced with judgments that have nothing to do with their job or personality, such as being lazy or incompetent. Apart from that, adults are afraid of future health problems and needing care. Especially individuals who are worried about becoming incapacitated and burdening their families are so sensitive about it that even talking about it is tearful. The biggest reason why adult obese individuals have so little hope for recovery and life is the discrimination and labeling they face in the health sector and business life.
Which group affects stigma and discrimination the most? Are they women or men or young people or their children?
Stigma and discrimination affect women the most. It is generally women who are implied by their family elders that they cannot marry because of their overweight, who are distanced by their husbands, and whose job applications are rejected. In our interviews, even male participants in the same group stated that weight is more tolerated in men, and obesity is another challenge for women.
You say 'people with obesity get hurt with words the most'. What are the examples of wounding with words?
First of all, it is possible to say that age, gender and income are a factor in this issue. However, contrary to possible admissions, adults and elderly obese individuals stated that they do not like to hear "tonton, chubby" speech; young people consider these appeals as joking / sympathy between them.
Saying by friends and elders, "Your face is beautiful, but if you lose a little weight!", "I say it for your sake",
Employers, 'We are looking for someone who will appeal to more customers' eyes,
They heard from the healthcare professionals, "What did you do to yourself?" 'What do you expect with this weight?' Statements such as these hurts obese individuals more than expected and lead them to despair.
What kinds of behavior examples did you encounter while preparing the book that attracted attention and surprised?
Each of the life stories of obese individuals told us the same thing, 'Think once again what you did and say what you said, putting yourself in my place' 'One of the individuals with deep traumas, especially due to the health services and social life, said that they called an ambulance when they could not feel their arm and leg due to the sudden discomfort. He said that he lived on the fourth floor and there was no elevator in the building, as if he was living that moment. The healthcare professionals who came stated that his blood pressure was very high, he might be having a stroke and that they should take him to the hospital. The female participant said that the team consisting of two women and men, rather than her current health, was thinking about how to bring her down and she did not want to be taken to the hospital.
I Wish You Would Be a Some Weak
It is also a striking example that one of the young participants had to steal a wheelchair due to an ankle problem while doing sports. The participant in the plaster cast stated that he would return to school because he had a lesson in the hospital, but he needed a wheelchair because he had difficulty walking. Employees stated that this was not possible and said "I wish you were a little weak". Annoyed by this, the young man stole the chair, went to school with him for a week, and then dropped the chair back to the hospital.
The Sadness of a 6-year-Old Girl
Of course, they have different negative experiences not only when they receive health care, but also when they are on vacation with their families, at a birthday party or during a journey. The participant, who is the father of a 6-year-old girl, told her to buy something to eat from a close distance by giving her money when her child was hungry on vacation. He was watching his daughter, too, by opening the front camera of his cell phone. On the camera, she saw her daughter come to her crying and clenching her fists, kicking the plastic chair on the road. When the father, who got up with anxiety and asked what happened to his daughter, pointed to his father saying, 'You will bring the food here', one of the employees said, 'Whoa, look at the man!' He told what he said. The father, who said that his daughter, who is normally not aggressive, was surprised and upset by this behavior, 'So even though it does not reveal it to me, there was a problem in my daughter because of my weight, and this situation became clear with that incident. It is not normal for a 6-year-old child to react to two big men.'
Driver Taking Two Money from One Passenger
Another male participant's unfortunate incident in urban transportation was a memory that neither he nor we could forget. To the participant who gets on the minibus with a chauffeur friend, in front of all the passengers, "Brother, you will send money for two people, two people are sitting in a three-person place." Although it is not acceptable to say, obesity is among the common problems experienced by individuals. Individuals deprived of their freedom to travel are exposed to discrimination, hurt and hurt in almost every aspect of life, whether they are aware of it or not.
We can say instead of saying I-You
All the data tell us that individuals with obesity should be included in life rather than just statistics and numbers. While doing this, we should stop imposing responsibility on them by saying 'lose weight' and make efforts together by adding our behaviors, thoughts and decisions to the changes that will start in our language and the words we choose. We must realize that we are violating other people's rights while maintaining our own comfortable space. Instead of giving obese individuals advice on how to lose weight at every opportunity, we should first try to understand their emotional state, empathize more and start saying 'we' instead of saying 'I - you' ”.