Il "vissuto" del paziente obeso: una prospettiva sociologica

[Machine translation] The prevalence of obesity and related health problems has increased dramatically in recent decades. Focusing on the phenomenon in the context of changes in relationships between human beings, other living species and the environment, the article paves the way for a One Health perspective to understand and address obesity. The study presents empirical data based on interviews with patients and doctors at the San Giuseppe Hospital of the Italian Auxological Institute, a hospital highly specialized in the treatment of metabolic diseases and related pathologies. Among the research results, it emerges that a significant part of the patients interviewed internalized norms, attitudes and behaviors associated with a state of marginalization and isolation, also in relation to the social stigma associated with obesity. These results highlight the crucial, but often overlooked, role of significant interpersonal relationships at the meso level in the obesogenic environment.