Anti-Fat Bias & Obese Patients
Anti-Fat Bias in Health Professionals
Health professionals who specialize in treating and studying obesity are
not immune to anti-fat bias. Like many Americans, they tend to view excess
body weight a character failing - even if only unconsciously according
to a recent obesity report appearing in Obesity Research. The survey of
nearly 400 health professionals found how difficult it is to fight the
automatic belief that fat people are lazy and stupid.
Anti-Fat Bias & Overweight Support
The bias could affect health professionals' ability to empathize and support
overweight and obese patients, although the study couldn't determine if
patient care was compromised.
Anti-Fat Bias - Greater in Women
The findings were based on responses of 389 clinicians and researchers
- 198 women and 191 men - to an Implicit Association Test administered
at the opening session of the 2001 annual meeting of the North American
Assn. for the Study of Obesity in Quebec City. Bias was greater among
younger professionals and among women, which Schwartz attributed to the
greater pressure on women to be thin and not overweight. Bias was mitigated
by the subjects either having obese friends or being obese themselves.
And those survey subjects who worked most closely with obese people were
less biased than those removed from patient contact.
Source: September 29, 2003 LA Times.
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