Anti-fat bias in health care: The patient perspective


Kelsey Ioannoni, Wilfrid Laurier University

In health care spaces, the stigma associated with the fat female body results in women internalizing societal stigma as shame about the existence of their bodies (Ioannoni, 2022). The internalization of this shame through feelings of moral failure (Lanipher and Cory, 2021) around their inability despite best efforts, and their subsequent position in society as a ‘bad citizen’, failing to meet the neoliberal expectation of ‘good health’ as a biocitizen (Halse, 2009). The ability of fat women to fully engage with and participate in their health care is impacted by the continued insistence on weight loss by their doctors (Ioannoni, 2022), the physical environments of their doctors’ offices (Shanouda, 2021), and the continued experience of anti-fat bias in these settings (Ioannoni, 2022). These experiences result in negative or non-existent relations with doctors and, ultimately, can result in denial of care (by the doctor) or avoidance of care (by the patient). Drawing on the experience of fat women in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), this paper, I explore how the anti-fat bias, held by health care professionals and inflicted on fat patients in health care settings, negatively impacts the doctor-patient relationship. The result of this impact is that many fat folks experience inadequate care, are afraid of visiting their doctor, and may avoid care altogether.

This paper will be presented at the following session: