Men's experiences of living with obesity

The aim for this study was to describe men´s experiences of living with obesity. By exploring the patients perceptions it might be possible to gain an understanding of the attitudes that influence health care encounters and quality of life for patients with obesity. A qualitative design was used. Nine adult men with BMI ≥30 were interviewed using semi- structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic content analysis. The result described living with obesity as struggling for well-being. The obese men described experiences of being limited, being oversized, being content with ones weight yet desiring weight-loss and being seen as obese. The obese men¡¯s desire to lose weight and their feelings of discomfort in situations focusing on their obesity was understood as a result of implicit anti-obese bias and the internalization of the social stigma of obesity.Validerat; 20101217 (root