A recent study featured in the "Journal of General Internal Medicine" shows that many physicians have less respect for obese patients, HealthDay News reported.
"Society, in general, has negative attitudes towards patients with obesity, and physicians may be mimicking what is found in society," said Dr. Mary Margaret Huizinga, lead researcher on the study and an assistant professor of general internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
Huizinga and her colleagues asked 40 doctors to complete a questionnaire, revealing their attitudes toward obese patients.
Huizinga found that the higher a patient’s body mass index was, the less respect a doctor had for him.
"But focus groups studies have shown that patients may refuse to go back to see their physician, and they felt they were treated with a negative attitude," Huizinga said.
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