Major Assignment 2
Breaking Social Stigma Barriers: Scholarly Review of Ask the Doctor on Netflix episode 1 season 1 on obesity
Dear Mom,
Throughout the semester in English 170, we have studied how the media holds so much power in changing a viewer’s attitude toward certain social stigmas. Media sources can influence a person’s opinion and contribute to the development of stigmas on certain disorders without the audience even noticing. Scholarly reviews evaluate many artifacts such as films, Television shows, documentaries, books, websites, and many other things. Then from those media sources, one will create a recommendation to specific audiences based on criteria developed to address specific purposes. Scholarly reviews are only based on research, analysis, and supporting evidence; they are not influenced by one’s personal beliefs or opinions. This scholarly review will be focused on the stigmas against those struggling with obesity. As a nurse, I feel it may be helpful for you to watch the first episode of the season one documentary Ask the Doctor on Netflix. This documentary helps positively address social stigma barriers associated with the disorder I have been focusing on this semester. Obesity is a heavily stigmatized disorder many Americans suffer from, and this documentary goes into detail about the main misconceptions surrounding it and debunks them through scientific studies. This documentary follows three serious medical professionals as they help break down and understand the science behind obesity. These three medical professionals work hard to find solutions within their research to help answer the question of “why is it so hard to lose weight?” and disprove the most commonly held myths and misconceptions surrounding obesity. The documentary is very eye-opening and really gets down to the root of the obesity epidemic but explains it in such a way that even those without medical backgrounds would understand. Medical professionals hold the power to educate people and to help break the stigmas so people who struggle with obesity will seek help without the fear of judgment. Educating medical professionals is the first step to helping those who struggle with obesity so they go get themselves proper help without feeling judged. When medical professionals are well educated, it helps them to be non-judgemental and, thus, not perpetuate the myths and misconceptions associated with obesity onto those who suffer. Educating those who work in the medical field is the first step to tackling the epidemic within America of obesity.
This documentary represents the global epidemic of obesity and helps to confute the most commonly held stigmas and misconceptions surrounding it. As of 2021, 41.9% of Americans have obesity (“State”). As a nurse, you can see this epidemic firsthand. Many patients coming and going throughout your day will most likely be on the obesity scale in one way or another. Nearly half of Americans struggle with obesity, yet many may feel judged or bullied by peers. This judgment or bullying can include medical professionals, and due to that, many will withhold from seeking help. Obesity is an excessive or abnormal amount of fat that has accumulated in the body that may lead to health issues (“Obesity”). The most common myth surrounding obesity is a person is fat because they are just lazy and choose not to exercise and eat healthily. While this may be the reason some are overweight, many who struggle with obesity eat clean and healthily while exercising daily. The media heavily misrepresenting obesity can have negative effects on a person’s mental health and make them feel isolated and that there is no one out there who will help them without also judging them. The media loves to create overweight characters as comic relief. Unfortunately, this just helps to create and perpetuate the idea to viewers that it is okay to poke fun at someone’s weight and jokes should surround the fat person in the group. When the public lacks understanding and proper awareness of the misconceptions surrounding obesity, it makes those individuals living with it feel alone and hopeless.
In the documentary, one of the doctors, Dr. Sandro Demaio, uses the example of students in a classroom. He says if one student out of 30 were struggling, then it would be assumed there was a problem with the student’s ability to learn. However, if 20 out of 30 students were to struggle, you may place blame on the teacher or school (2:35-3:00). Therefore, why is society placing blame on individuals when around half of the American population struggles with obesity? There is obviously more to the epidemic than the stigmas of being lazy and not working out or eating healthily. Perhaps it has something to do with genetics and the foods that are being consumed in America. The public needs to be educated on the dangers of obesity, and the effects negative naive comments about someone’s weight can have on that individual. Dr. Sandro’s example helps to really question why, when it comes to obesity, there is so much blame on the individual and not the way society is around them. Another important topic mentioned in this documentary was that the location of where you choose to live has been proven to play a role in obesity. Poor urban planning leads to no areas for kids to run and play, and parents struggle to find fresh food. Many of those children grow up struggling with obesity (3:30-4:00). There needs to be more places for kids to run and play in these urban areas where there are no fields and parks for kids to get exercise. Exercise is important in maintaining a healthy heart and body, even if someone is more prone to being overweight. There also needs to be ways to help bring healthy foods to these urban areas so children can grow up learning healthy eating habits. Many TV shows have commercials on unhealthy sugar-loaded food during children’s TV shows to get them hooked on those foods starting at a young age. Dr. Renee Lim has had long-term patients who have struggled to keep the weight off. Her patients may be obese, not because they are lazy but because it is extremely hard to keep the weight off due to many factors (6:30-9:00). Professor Joe Proietto talks about how it is extremely hard for people to maintain a lower weight after struggling with obesity because their bodies are used to the heaviest weight they once were and try to get back to it. A person’s body, once at a “set point,” will, for the rest of that person’s life, try to get back to the highest/heaviest point because it believes it needs to be that size for survival. Therefore, people who were obese or are obese are naturally hungrier than everyone else because the hormones in the body are constantly telling them to look for food and to eat what food they find. After weight loss, “the hunger-suppressing hormones decrease” and the “hunger hormone increases” then, in 2011, Professor Joe Proietto discovered these hormones stay like that permanently after the weight loss leading to what causes many to struggle with keeping the weight off (7:00-7:50). Therefore it is extremely unfair to judge a person’s health from how they appear on the outside. Sharon how was on the American Television Show The Biggest Loser and, three years later, has managed to keep the weight off. However, she works out 3 hours a day, eats a clean, healthy diet, and works extremely hard to keep the weight off. Due to the hunger hormones triggered by her weight loss, Sharon must work out 3 hours a day just to maintain her weight, and she has to put in even more hours if she wants to lose more weight. Sharon, on average, “needs to burn 300 more calories a day more than someone who hasn’t lost as much weight”. Sharon’s workouts and clean diet have done wonders for making her healthy, and she’s proof that being skinny doesn’t mean you are healthy and being heavier does not mean you are unhealthy (10:00-13:30). Awareness needs to be spread about the biology behind obesity and losing weight to help break common stigmas portrayed in the media. It is naturally harder for a person with obesity to lose weight and keep it off. This documentary does a very great job of addressing the issue that just because a person may be heavy their whole life does not mean they are lazy and eat unhealthily. They could eat clean, healthy foods, work out more, and be in better health than those around them who may be skinnier, but unfortunately, the majority of people base someone’s health and value as a person on how they look from the outside.
I believe this documentary would be a great resource for you and others who work within the medical field. While this documentary does not take place in America specifically, I still find that it would be extremely helpful to educate the American people. America is not excluded from the obesity epidemic that is happening in the world. In fact, America is very much involved with the highly increasing rate of obesity. This documentary can shed light on the many misconceptions that most Americans hold without even realizing it. I think this documentary would be extremely educational for medical students and nursing students to watch so that when entering the field, they do not help to perpetuate the stigmas that many Americans face daily.
Love,
Aly