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Objective: To describe the experiences of weight stigma in prenatal clinical settings among high-risk pregnant women living with obesity and to obtain women's perspectives regarding changes to prenatal health care practices that may reduce weight stigma., Design: Qualitative descriptive study., Setting/local Problem: High-risk obstetrics clinic. Weight stigma experienced in prenatal clinical settings can negatively influence maternal health and well-being as well as communication with health care providers., Participants: Nine pregnant women with obesity who were receiving specialized prenatal care in their third trimester., Intervention/measurements: Women participated in semistructured telephone interviews. Data were inductively analyzed using a content analysis, whereby coded data were organized to represent experiences of or suggestions provided by pregnant women to reduce weight stigma in prenatal clinical settings., Results: Experiences of weight stigma included poor communication, generalizations made about health and lifestyle behaviors, and focusing only on excess body weight during clinical appointments as the cause of negative health outcomes. To reduce weight stigma, women suggested that health care providers practice sensitive communication, offer individualized care for weight management, and reduce the focus on body weight by also independently addressing comorbidities or other health indicators., Conclusion: Women interviewed for this study provided suggestions that can be implemented in prenatal clinical settings to reduce weight stigma and improve the delivery of equitable health care., (Copyright © 2021 AWHONN. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: As the prevalence of obesity increases, more women are at risk of potentially experiencing weight stigma in prenatal health care settings. The objective of this scoping review was to summarize the primary literature assessing potential causes of weight stigma in prenatal health care settings and synthesize recommendations for health care providers to improve clinical practice., Methods: A search strategy was developed combining the terms pregnancy, weight stigma, obesity, and prenatal care. A systematic search was completed in the following databases: Medline, EMBASE, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Opengrey, and Proquest., Results: Eighteen resources were included in this review, of which 17 were qualitative, and one was a mixed-methods study design. Weight stigma occurred in prenatal health care settings when providers: avoided weight-related discussions, assumed lifestyle behaviors, and had poor communication when discussing risks associated with obesity. Recommendations to prevent weight stigma included: offering sensitivity training to discuss obesity during pregnancy, implementing a patient-centred approach, including evaluating individual health behaviors, and providing educational resources to patients explaining potential risks and referrals., Conclusion: This review summarizes recommendations to eliminate weight stigma in prenatal health care settings., Practice Implications: These recommendations can be implemented in clinical practice and can improve the delivery of prenatal care., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None to disclose., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: It is unclear whether all obese individuals should be prescribed weight loss (WL) treatment. The effect of a clinically significant WL of 5% on metabolic factors among metabolically normal and abnormal overweight and obese (MNO and MAO) individuals was examined., Design and Methods: The sample included 392 overweight and obese adults from the Wharton Medical Clinic. MAO was defined as having one or more clinically relevant aberrations in glucose, triglycerides, blood pressure (BP), high-density lipoprotein-C, low-density lipoprotein-C, preexisting, or current medication use for metabolic conditions., Results: Of the 392 patients, 21.2% of the sample was MNO at baseline and 41.3% of the sample attained a 5% WL. Regardless of initial metabolic health status, improvements in most risk factors were observed with a 5% WL in comparison with those who did not lose weight. Even MAO patients who did not achieve a 5% WL still significantly improved BP and cholesterol over the treatment period., Conclusions: A clinically significant WL is beneficial for the cardiometabolic risk profile of both MNO and MAO. However, a 5% WL is not necessarily required to improve the cardiometabolic risk profile of MAO. Thus, lifestyle-based WL provides beneficial metabolic effects for all overweight and obese individuals, particularly those with significant metabolic aberrations., (Copyright © 2012 The Obesity Society.)

To identify sources of weight stigma in physical activity (PA)-related milieus reported by pregnant women living with obesity. We also report person-informed strategies to improve the delivery of PA promotions and prescriptions to prevent weight stigma and improve maternal PA. This is a qualitative descriptive study and semi-structured interviews were conducted. Purposive sampling including pregnant women living with obesity, with a body mass index ≥35.0 kg/m2, ≥18 years of age, and receiving specialized prenatal care were recruited from an obstetrics clinic in Kingston, Canada. Data were assessed by a content analysis, whereby coded themes represented sources of weight stigma related to prenatal PA. Demographic characteristics (pre-pregnancy body mass index, age, gestational age) were summarized and presented as means and standard deviations. In-depth interview data were collected from eight women. Average pre-pregnancy BMI, age, and gestational age were 44.6±4.8 kg/m2, 32.0±4.1 years, 31.1±5.8 weeks, respectively. Two sources of weight stigma related to prenatal PA were identified: 1. Lack of visual representation – online images and images found in exercise promotional material do not include women who have obesity; 2. Lack of individualized recommendations – currently available prenatal PA guidelines and/or recommendations from healthcare providers do not always consider individual physical barriers or health goals women may have. By increasing body positive representation of pregnant women exercising and offering person-centered prenatal PA recommendations, maternal PA may improve including women living with obesity. Findings from this work can inform future PA interventions, health promotion programming, and prescriptions from prenatal care providers to implement person-oriented strategies to prevent weight stigma and improve the delivery of care for pregnant women living with obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]