Overweight doctors counseling obese patients

Are slimmer physicians better at getting the message across?

“Some of us are the worst role models,” acknowledged Bellinger, who at one point carried 285 pounds on his 6-foot-4 frame. “We work long hours, and do a lot of intermittent eating of terrible things.”

Hernandez, who worked as a family doctor while she was at her heaviest, said it was awkward advising patients to watch their diet and exercise regularly.

“There was a feeling of being a hypocrite, sitting across from patients and being overweight myself,” she said. “Regardless of what my story was, there was a physical barrier from what I was saying.”