Weight-related Messages in Primary Care: Challenges and Possibilities

The purpose of the present study was to acquire a detailed understanding of women’s experiences receiving weight-related information or advice from their general practitioners (GPs). Guided by a critical feminist perspective, this qualitative study explored cultural and social processes that interact with women’s understanding and perceptions of weight-based dialogues. In-depth interviews about weight-related care were conducted with 18 women between the ages of 18 and 45. The women varied in terms of social locations, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and body sizes and weight. A constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to analyse the transcribed interviews. Three core categories emerged in the data analysis in relation to the women’s experiences, namely: (1) Weight Weighing on the Doctor-Patient Relationship, which highlighted the ways weight-based dialogues affected the doctor-patient relationship; (2) Patients’ Self and Body Experiences, which focused on women’s ongoing struggles with weight in relation to sociocultural pressures, as well as how these experiences shaped women’s responses to weight-based care; and (3) Practice, which revealed the weight-management practices of GPs, and constructive insights regarding ways in which GPs’ practices could be improved. The intricacies revealed herein can help inform GPs in navigating the complexities of providing sensitive, weight-related interventions, while simultaneously enhancing the doctor-patient relationship and the quality of care received.Ph.D