Imagen corporal en mujeres diagnosticadas con obesidad mórbida, luego de dos años post cirugía bariátrica

Bariatric surgery has become a first choice procedure for a lot of patients that have tried many different ways to deal with overweight, and its medical consequences, with no results. This article describes subjective experience with body image changes as they lose weight, two years after bariatric surgery, in a group of eight obese women, who did surgery in a Hospital in Santiago, Chile. Qualitative methodology is used, based on Grounded Theory¹. A purposive sampling approach was used, based in a theoretical sampling, using inclusion criteria. Semistructured interviews were applied to eight patients. Results show that, although most of them lost weight, at least 50% of their initial extra body weight, seven patients, are still overweight, which turns into a "fear of gainig weight" they experience permanently. They describe positive experiences, such as satisfaction with their actual weight, given the notorious body volume reaction and the increasing movement capacity they have. They also highlight social positive reinforcement. On the other hand, they report negative experiences, due to extreme body flaccidity. It is striking that they do not recognize their desire to look better as motivation for surgery, but when evaluating the results of the operation, they particularly express frustration of not achieving an ideal shape.