title: Obesity bias, medical technology, and the hormonal hypothesis: should we stop demonizing fat people?
abstract: There is adequate evidence to demonstrate that bias toward obese individuals by health professionals is common. Bias predisposes to errors in medical judgment and care. There is also evidence to show that the pathophysiology of obesity is more complex than eating too much and moving too little. Widespread obesity is a new phenomenon in the United States and reflects changes in culture, including food, at many levels. The modern abundance of low-cost, available, palatable, energy-dense processed foods and the ability of these foods to activate central nervous system centers that drive food preference and overeating appear to play an important role in the obesity epidemic. The usual hormonal systems that promote body weight homeostasis appear to have been counterbalanced by pleasurable (hedonic) influences these foods generate in higher neurologic networks, including the limbic system. The use of medical technology, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, to quantitate hedonic responses to food, enhance taste, and effectively develop and market commercial food products has produced new areas of ethical concern and opportunities to better understand eating and satiety. These developments further demonstrate the urgency to address the bias that exists toward obese patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson; Department of Pediatrics, The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson. Electronic address: rdeshazo@umc.edu.
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: deShazo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson; Mississippi Center for Obesity Research, The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson.
authors.forename: Leigh Baldwin
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Skipworth
mesh_terms: D001069:Appetite Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005525:Food-Processing Industry; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006963:Hyperphagia / Q000503:physiopathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D057181:Pleasure / Q000502:physiology; D011287:Prejudice; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Bias; Hormonal hypothesis; Obesity