The Effect of an Education Module to Reduce Weight Bias among Medical Centers Employees: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Introduction: Weight bias, stigma, and discrimination are common among healthcare professionals. We aimed to evaluate whether an online education module affects weight bias and knowledge about obesity in a private medical center setting. Methods: An open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted among all employees of a chain of private medical centers in Israel (n=3,290). Employees who confirmed their consent to participate in the study were randomized into intervention or control (i.e., 'no intervention') arms. The study intervention was an online 15-minute educational module that included obesity, weight bias, stigma, and discrimination information. Questionnaires on Anti-Fat Attitudes ('AFA'), fat-phobia ('F-scale), and beliefs about the causes of obesity were answered at baseline (i.e., right before the intervention), 7-days, and 30-days post-intervention. Results: A total of 506, 230, and 145 employees responded to the baseline, 7-day, and 30-day post-intervention questionnaires, respectively. Mean participant age was 43.3±11.6 years, 84.6% were women, and 67.4% held an academic degree. Mean F-scale scores and percentage of participants with above-average fat-phobic attitudes (≥3.6) significantly decreased only within the intervention group over time (P≤0.042). However, no significant differences between groups over time were observed for AFA scores or factors beliefs to cause obesity. Conclusions: A single exposure to an online education module on weight bias and knowledge about obesity may confer only a modest short-term improvement in medical center employees fat-phobic attitudes toward people with obesity. Future studies should examine if re-exposure to such intervention could impact weight bias, stigma, and discrimination among medical center staff in the long-term.

WIT FITS: Effects of Weight Stigma Intervention on Exercise Professionals’ Attitudes Toward Fatness: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Our research findings suggest that a two-hour highly interactive online course informed by attribution theory and the HAES® paradigm provides an adequate dose to impact attitudes about fatness. Previous research with shorter technology-based high-reach interventions has been well-received but not always effective (Raffoul et al, 2023; Sherf-Dagan et al, 2023). Students reported preferring interactivity and engagement with online educational content (Raffoul et al, 2023).…”

“…Moreover, those initiatives were facilitated as in-person programs, limiting their reach and scalability. To date, the available online weight stigma interventions have only targeted populations other than exercise professionals, such as nurses (Gamaly, 2022), medical staff (Sherf-Dagan et al, 2022), and health-related undergraduate students (Raffoul et al, 2023).…”

Reliable Knowledge about Obesity Risk, Rather Than Personality, Is Associated with Positive Beliefs towards Obese People: Investigating Attitudes and Beliefs about Obesity, and Validating the Polish Versions of ATOP, BAOP and ORK–10 Scales

“…The media, as mentioned previously, can also play a positive role in the obesity discourse by implementing educational activities aimed at changing attitudes towards obese people or increasing public awareness of the causes of excessive weight and health-promoting behaviours. Even a single exposure to an online educational module about obesity brings a small, short-term improvement in the attitudes of medical professionals [ 30 ]. In contrast, other studies also carried out among medical personnel did not show an association between knowledge, attitudes and prejudices toward obese people [ 31 ].…”