Dec. 23, 2022 - Weight Loss Surgery in Delaware: Morbid Obesity Social Stigma

Today’s Bariatric Friday, Kemal Erkan, Chairman of American Surgery Center, is accompanied by Dr. Isaias Irgau, President of Christiana Institute of Advanced Surgery (CHRIAS). This discussion is in regard to the social stigma that surrounds morbid obesity. Erkan explains that throughout their career they continually try to educate the public on morbid obesity. He explains, “morbid obesity was not recognized as a chronic illness until 2010 with Medicare based on Medicare guidelines.” The acceptance of this illness is relatively new in the public eye.

Erkan shares a clip from a show based in the United Kingdom. The clip shows the anchors berating a guest for being obese. Dr. Irgau summarizes the anchors’ point of view, “in their view, they are trying to highlight the fact that this person who suffers from a serious level of morbid obesity has gone to a show celebrating her body. When we talk about how obesity is presented in our society, it’s far more common to see shows where people with morbid obesity are stigmatized and treated unfairly and teased as opposed to celebration.” He mentions the missed opportunity the show had. They are discussing a medical problem on a public forum without addressing that there is treatment available for those who need it. Dr. Irgau then continues, “studies show that when you stigmatize and treat unfairly or tease people who are suffering with morbid obesity, you make their situation worse because you make them more depressed. The more depressed they are, they reach out to things that make them happy for the moment which may be binge eating… we don’t talk about high blood pressure or diabetes in these terms.” Obesity should also be discussed as a medical problem. With the platform the show has, they should be bringing in a bariatric surgeon to speak and highlight that there is help available for those who need it. Children as young as three years old have been taught to think that being overweight is undesirable. There is often psychological and physical aggression towards children who are obese in school and sometimes in their home life. Dr. Irgau continues, “there is a study that has shown that the quality of life of children who suffer from obesity is similar to that of children who suffer from cancer.” If this problem remains unaddressed, children who are overweight are likely to remain overweight in adulthood.

Erkan resumes the video from the British show. Dr. Irgau summarizes, “I don’t think she is celebrating, what she is showing us is that she really has not seen a way out from this, and that is a problem that we see time and time again. We always talk about the fact that bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment we have, yet only one percent of the people who are eligible for the surgery come forward,” Socially, bariatric surgery is seen as the easy way out. The co-anchors on the show are handling the conversation with the obese woman poorly, as they are having an aggressive conversation without someone in attendance as a third party to present factual information about the situation. Dr. Irgau explains, “her life could be transformed literally with her losing as much as 200 pounds with bariatric surgery to become a much healthier person.” He added, “you and I are trying to address this in this forum to really come out and say look there is treatment available which is safe. which is done in exceptionally high quality of standards. Nobody that I know is happy to be morbidly obese, they wanted to get out of it but they haven’t been able to find a solution for it, and that solution is being hidden like in this show. Dr. Irgau explains it would have been much easier for them to call a bariatric surgeon or weight management specialist in the United Kingdom to be part of the show and for them to have that discussion. If the show were to have done something to that essence, the stigmatization and blaming would be highlighted in order to focus on the real issue at hand.

Erkan explains that the anchors are taking a very harsh approach with their benign intentions. Dr. Irgau understands but then emphasizes that the woman mentioned she has tried every diet and exercise method at her disposal to lose weight. When the anchor on the show mentions that he would rather see her in a campaign trying to lose weight rather than glamorizing her

body, she states, “what’s the point in publicizing something that doesn’t work.” She has personal knowledge on this matter because it is something that she has experienced. Those who do not have firsthand experience with this cannot fathom how difficult it is to lose an extreme amount of weight without the aid of bariatric surgery. People still do not understand. The public needs to be educated on morbid obesity and the methods there are to treat it. Those who are morbidly obese are teased and shamed as if it is something they decided they wanted; the stigma is extremely pervasive in society. People assume there is a simple solution and think the morbidly obese are lazy or not actively trying to improve. This is why the pair actively try to educate the public on this topic. Their goal is to reduce the social stigma and educate individuals that there is a solution. The public need to recognize and accept morbid obesity as a disease and bariatric surgery as a safe and effective treatment.