Raising the issue of overweight and obesity with the South Asian community.

Abstract

Despite being at higher risk for chronic disorders, the South Asian population remains largely under-represented in clinical and applied health research or service design,1,2 and is less likely to access or be referred to relevant services compared with the white population.3 This adds to the multiple disadvantages faced by some ethnic minority communities.4 Mainstream research practices that elicit the participation of the majority population can sometimes exclude minority populations because the nature of the methods used are not always culturally appropriate.5 Given the prevalence and consequences of overweight/obesity in the South Asian population in the UK, it is important to identify strategies for raising the issue of overweight/obesity with this group, although there is little evidence on raising this sensitive issue with patients generally. ### Patient and public involvement The role of the public and patients in research and service redesign as co-producers of health has been highlighted, but descriptions and discussions of the processes are often limited.6,7 Studies have shown that using the appropriate approaches can aid participation and involvement of different communities8,9 in order to inform healthcare services, research, policies, and practice. From the patient’s perspective, fear of obesity-related stigma by others including healthcare professionals (HCPs) and previous experience of obesity-related discrimination10,11 may result in people with weight problems failing to seek health care.12 Furthermore, a mismatch between how healthcare professionals and patients make sense of the causes, consequences, and solutions of overweight and obesity13 will lead to barriers in communication. For this reason, appropriately developed public and patient involvement (PPI) activities as a method of research are required for seldom heard groups.14 Therefore, it is especially important that when the issue is raised with people that societal prejudices are not reaffirmed, and that raising …