Weight bias among dietitians: does the weight status of the patients change the dietary approaches?

Abstract

Objective Since obesity is a multifactorial disease, some health professionals may esteem that weight control is a matter of personal willpower and stigmatize individuals. These weight-based attitudes seem quite common even among dietitians. This study aimed to determine whether the level of weight bias affects the dietary approaches of the dietitians. Methods Two hypothetical cases with obese and normal weight vignettes were created to be evaluated, and the explicit weight bias was assessed by the fat phobia scale among 99 dietitians via an online questionnaire. Results The majority of the dietitians demonstrated mild or moderate levels of weight bias (59.6% and 32.3%, respectively). The obese vignette had the highest agreement for nearly all adjectives and was perceived as having poorer diet quality, general health status, and insufficient physical activity level. Conclusion Overall, as weight bias is a concerning issue among most dietitians, necessary steps are required for the reduction of prejudice and thus protect the patients from stigmatizing attitudes.