Experiential Trajectories of Weight Gain: A Qualitative Study of People With Larger Bodies’ Understanding of Their Weight Changes Throughout Life in Norway

• Published in: Qualitative health research p. 10497323251342217
• Main Authors: Danielsen, Yngvild Sørebø, Woodfin, Vivian, Stige, Signe Hjelen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 04.06.2025
• ISSN: 1049-7323; 1552-7557
• DOI: 10.1177/10497323251342217

This qualitative study explores how people in Norway seeking treatment for ‘obesity’ experience and understand their weight development in a life-course perspective. Participants were adults ( N = 10) who had recently attended a specialist lifestyle intervention. The study employed a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Semi-structured in-depth life story interviews were conducted and were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and narrative perspectives. Results were categorized according to two dimensions: understanding versus it’s a mystery, and agency versus helplessness. Based on these two dimensions, four trajectories for experienced weight development were formulated: (1) “Snowballing weight gain” (understanding but limited agency); (2) “I see the path that leads here” (understanding and agency); (3) “Why me? Grasping at straws” (limited understanding and limited agency); and (4) “What happened? Making the best of it” (limited understanding but agency). Most participants found it hard to narrate the causes of their weight gain. The experience was not only that gaining weight was a problem but also narrating about a “problematic body” that is a part of who you are makes you both an object and a subject in the narrative. However, adverse life events and stress resulting in emotional eating were the most prominent themes presented. Agency was found to be impacted by trauma reactions, emotional pain, and repeated weight loss attempts. Trauma and emotional pain were at the core of our participants’ narratives about the causality of their weight gain, and more trauma-informed approaches are warranted for people with larger bodies in need of health care.