A new study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health unveils that overweight physicians are less likely to diagnose obese patients compared to physicians of a normal weight.

According to the research published in the journal Obesity, being diagnosed as overweight not only depends on body-mass index (BMI) but also on your doctor’s weight, suggesting that obesity treatment might not be successful if the doctor you consult is overweight.

The study, which included 500 physicians, was conducted to assess the impact of physicians’ BMI on obesity diagnosis. Study authors, for the purpose of study, considered doctors with a BMI below 25 as normal weight and a BMI at or above 25 as overweight or obese.

Researchers found that 30% of normal weight doctors talk to their obese patients about weight loss treatment, while only 18% obese doctors advise their patients to go for obesity treatment.

Around 53% of normal weight physicians were reported to advise their patients to diet, compared to only the 37% of overweight physicians offering advice. Surprising as it may sound, 80% of doctors with a normal BMI thought that their patients would be less likely to trust weight loss advice from an overweight doctor, while only 69% of obese doctors thought so.

Sara Bleich, an assistant professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management and the lead study author, said normal BMI doctors provide diet and exercise counselling with more confidence than obese physicians.

She further added that more research is needed to validate the figures and understand the complete impact of physician’s BMI on obesity care.