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.”