Influence of Body Mass Index and Gender on Stigmatization of Obesity

Stigmatization and discrimination of people with obesity due to their weight are a common problem that may lead to additional weight gain. This study evaluated the influence of different parameters on the stigmatization of obesity.

Participants of six groups (general population, patients with obesity, medical students, physicians, nurses in training and nurses; n = 490) answered the short-form fat phobia scale (FPS) between August 2016 and July 2017. The influence of body mass index (BMI), gender and other factors on total scores and single adjective pairs was analyzed.

A total of 490 participants were evaluated. The total mean FPS rating was 3.5 ± 0.6. FPS was significantly lower (more positive) in participants with obesity (3.2 ± 0.7) compared with participants without obesity (3.5 ± 0.5, p < 0.001). Individuals with obesity and diabetes rated the FPS significantly lower (more positive), whereas age and gender did not have a significant influence. Participants with obesity linked obesity more often with good self-control (p < 0.001), being shapely (p = 0.002), industrious (p < 0.001), attractive (p < 0.001), active (p < 0.001), self-sacrificing (p < 0.001) and having more willpower (p < 0.001) than the participants without obesity. Females rated more positive in shapely versus shapeless (p = 0.038) and attractive versus non-attractive (p < 0.001) than males.

The present study shows that stigmatization of obesity is present in medical professionals as well as the general population. People affected by obesity characterized other people with obesity more positively (e.g. attractive or active), whereas people without obesity linked negative characteristics with obesity. Gender had an influence only on single items of FPS but did not affect overall stigmatization of obesity.