CONCURRENT SESSION 4: Allied Health

Critical Perspectives on Bariatric Surgery

Meredith Bessey, MScAHN, RD
PhD Student, Dept. of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition
Research Assistant, Re•Vision: The Centre for Art and Social Justice 
University of Guelph

Meredith Bessey is a PhD Candidate and Vanier Scholar at the University of Guelph in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, and holds a BSc in Psychology from Dalhousie University, as well as a BScAHN and MScAHN, both from Mount Saint Vincent University. She is also a Registered Dietitian, and is interested in weight-inclusive, social justice-oriented approaches to dietetic practice and healthcare. Her ongoing research takes a critical stance on eating, weight, health, and fitness, with her PhD dissertation research focusing on critical perspectives of bariatric surgery in Canada, using qualitative, arts-based methods. Her work is interdisciplinary and is influenced by fat studies, disability studies, critical dietetics, and gender studies. Meredith is also a past board member of World Critical Dietetics and currently sits on the board of the Canadian Association of Food Studies.

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Presentation Overview:

Bariatric surgery is becoming a more commonly utilized intervention for obesity in Canada and around the world. Although quantitative outcome data can provide much information about these surgeries, qualitative data can help to contextualize patients’ experiences of bariatric surgery and provide a more full and complex picture. While there is some existing qualitative research on these surgeries from elsewhere in the world, little of it takes a critical feminist stance and there is negligible qualitative research investigating these surgeries in the Canadian context. I will provide an overview of existing critical, qualitative research and writing on the topic and discuss the importance of patient stories and lived experience in navigating discussions about bariatric surgery. I will also draw on feminist theory, and discuss the importance of taking an intersectional lens in our considerations of these procedures.