Are medical students aware of their anti-obesity bias?

Anti-obesity prejudices affect the quality of care obese individuals receive. The authors sought to determine the prevalence of weight-related biases among medical students and whether they were aware of their biases.

Between 2008 and 2011, the authors asked all third-year medical students at Wake Forest School of Medicine to complete the Weight Implicit Association Test (IAT), a validated measure of implicit preferences for "fat" or "thin" individuals. Students also answered a semantic differential item assessing their explicit weight-related preferences. The authors determined students' awareness of their biases by examining the correlation between students' explicit preferences and their IAT scores.

Of 354 medical students, 310 (88%) completed valid surveys and consented to participate. Overall, 33% (101/310) self-reported a significant ("moderate" or "strong") explicit anti-fat bias. No students self-reported a significant explicit anti-thin bias. According to the IAT scores, over half of students had a significant implicit weight bias: 39% (121/310) had an anti-fat bias and 17% (52/310) an anti-thin bias. Two-thirds of students (67%, 81/121) were unaware of their implicit anti-fat bias. Only male gender predicted an explicit anti-fat bias (odds ratio 3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.8-5.3). No demographic factors were associated with an implicit anti-fat bias. Students' explicit and implicit biases were not correlated (Pearson r = 0.03, P = .58).

Over one-third of medical students had a significant implicit anti-fat bias; few were aware of that bias. Accordingly, medical schools' obesity curricula should address weight-related biases and their potential impact on care.