Stigma in high weight women through an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Carrying a high weight is a characteristic that has been devalued and socially denigrated, turning people with large bodies into victims of stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination, which has been called weight stigmatisation, a phenomenon that occurs especially in women. The aim of this study was to describe the weight stigma experiences of women with obesity who live in southern Chile. Six women between 20 and 57 years of age participated in semi -structured interviews conducted remotely. Through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis four supra -themes and several sub -themes were identified, the supra -themes are: 1. Obesity as part of the person. 2. Experiences of feeling discriminated. 3. Everything is about weight. 4. what society thinks of obesity, which together allow characterising the experience of living with obesity and suffering the weight stigma in different areas of their lives, including in health contexts. The consequences of this experience are diverse and negative, highlighting the impact it has on their self-esteem and the constant negative emotions that derive from discrimination situations. These results highlight the importance of moving toward body diversity and acceptance, which is a challenge for society in general and health care providers in particular, as it requires interventions free from prejudice and orientated to the health and well-being of individuals.