Weight bias among public health trainees

Abstract

Objective: To explore explicit beliefs about the controllability of obesity and the internalisation of negative weight-related stereotypes among public health trainees. Design: Cross-sectional online survey assessing explicit beliefs about the controllability of obesity using the Beliefs About Obese Persons Scale (BAOP) and internalisation of weight bias using the Modified Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS-M). Bivariate associations between BAOP and WBIS-M scores and demographic characteristics were examined using t tests or ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s tests. Setting: School of Public Health at a large, Midwestern University. Participants: Public health students (n 322). Results: Relative to students who identified as male, those who identified as female had a stronger belief that obesity is not within the control of the individual (P = 0·03), yet had more internalisation of weight bias (P < 0·01). Greater weight bias internalisation was also seen among students who perceived themselves to be of a higher weight status (P < 0·001) and those who were at risk for food insecurity (P < 0·01). Conclusions: Public health trainees may be more attuned to the complexities of weight relative to trainees in other health-related fields, but are still susceptible to internalisation of negative weight-related stereotypes.

Explicit and implicit weight bias among health care students: a cross-sectional study of 39 Australian universities

“… 63 stated that the lower weight bias exhibited by women may be due to their generalised increase in sensitivity (compared to men) to biases associated with weight, as a result of being more susceptible to societal judgements based on physical appearance. Several previous studies with health care students found similar results, such that students who identified as women exhibited lower explicit bias, 58 , 64 but more fear of fat, 37 while others found no differences between genders on implicit bias, 65 or that greater implicit bias was exhibited by students who identified as women. 66 Why such differences are present among studies conducted within the same country 58 , 65 , 66 is unclear; however, a clear difference exists between gender identification in the expression of students' weight bias.…”

“…Several previous studies with health care students found similar results, such that students who identified as women exhibited lower explicit bias, 58 , 64 but more fear of fat, 37 while others found no differences between genders on implicit bias, 65 or that greater implicit bias was exhibited by students who identified as women. 66 Why such differences are present among studies conducted within the same country 58 , 65 , 66 is unclear; however, a clear difference exists between gender identification in the expression of students' weight bias. Despite the differences found between men and women in this study, caution is to be applied when interpreting them due to the sample's greater proportion of students who identified as women.…”

“… 54 , 55 Although inferences of causality cannot be made due to the cross-sectional nature of the current study, research has shown that individuals' beliefs and attitudes are in turn able to predict their behaviour, 56 , 57 meaning that students' exhibited weight bias may negatively impact the well-being of people living with overweight or obesity. The presence and strength of both explicit and implicit bias among samples of public health, 58 physical therapy, 59 marriage and family therapy 37 and medical students 31 , 48 were comparable to the current sample, indicating that Australian health care students' exhibited weight bias was similar to that of health care students in other countries. Robinson et al 38 sample of Australian health care students (11 disciplines) at an individual university scored slightly higher (albeit moderately higher on the Fear of Fat subscale) on the AFA, indicating that the current sample exhibited lower negative attitudes towards people living with overweight or obesity.…”

Primary Care Physicians’ Experiences of Obesity Counseling and Management in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations.

“…4 Despite the scienti c data pointing towards metabolic and endocrinological basis for obesity, weight bias still exists amongst healthcare professionals. 5 Weight bias refers to negative attitudes and beliefs toward people with obesity and is not uncommonly found amongst healthcare professionals. Physicians, too, often believe people with obesity are lazy, eat too much, and lack the willpower to maintain a healthy diet.…”

Obesity is not related to individuals but to environmental conditions; from the perspective of obese patients

“…Until now, different kinds of measuring scales have been introduced to evaluate the thoughts and beliefs of non-obese people over obese people [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Allison et al published the article entitled "The measurement of attitudes toward and beliefs about obese persons" in 1991 [15].…”