Research
Research and Professional Brief
Dietetics Students Possess Negative Attitudes toward Obesity Similar to Nondietetics Students

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2006.07.016Get rights and content

Abstract

This study explored attitudes toward obesity between dietetics and nondietetics majors at Ohio University and their relationship with dietary intake and body composition. A convenience sample comprised of 76 female dietetics (n=38) and nondietetics (n=38) majors was assessed for attitudes toward obesity using a validated Fat Phobia Scale. Dietary intake and percent body fat were measured using a food frequency questionnaire and air displacement plethysmography, respectively. Results show that both groups were well matched with respect to age, weight, and percent body fat. The two groups were similar with respect to negative attitudes toward obesity and these perceptions were comparable to norms reported in previous studies. However, there were intriguing, but subtle, differences in the rating of adjectives comprising the Fat Phobia Scale and in dietary intake between the groups. Together, these results suggest that dietetics students are no more or less susceptible to negative attitudes toward obesity than their peers.

Section snippets

Methods

Thirty-eight dietetics (mean age=21.2±1.5 years) and 38 age-matched nondietetics students (mean age=21.4±3.9 years) from Ohio University completed the study. For the nondietetics group, in an attempt to obtain participants with limited nutrition knowledge, students were recruited from courses not required in the dietetics curriculum; students were excluded if their major was related to an allied health profession. Because the majority of dietetics students at Ohio University are women (>95%),

Results

Participants in the dietetics and nondietetics groups were well-matched with respect to anthropometric values. Data showed no significant differences between the groups for height (164.8±4.8 cm for students majoring in dietetics vs 164.4±14.8 cm for those not majoring in dietetics), weight (61±11.6 kg for dietetics majors vs 65.3±14.8 kg for nondietetics majors), BMI (22.5±4 for dietetics vs 24.1±4.5 for nondietetics majors), and percentage body fat (24.0%±7.2% for dietetics and 26.6%±7.3% for

Discussion

Unfavorable attitudes about obese individuals have been reported for health professionals as well as for students in health profession fields (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20). RDs and dietetics students are not immune to negative attitudes (14, 15). Regrettably, these studies rarely include a control group to determine how health care professionals or their respective students compare with the attitudes prevalent in the general population. Only one study used a control group

Conclusions

Previous reports show that educational programs that openly discuss bias toward obesity and present examples of prejudice in the media can reduce negative attitudes about obesity (20, 30). Until future studies confirm the effectiveness of these programs in the dietetics curriculum, educators need to explore means to broach this topic in their programs. For example, administering the Fat Phobia Scale to students, discussing relevant research articles, or including media literacy concepts as

G. M. Dubale was a graduate student, Ohio University, Athens, at the time of this study.

References (37)

  • C.L. Baum et al.

    The wage effects of obesity: A longitudinal study

    Health Econ

    (2004)
  • R. Puhl et al.

    Bias, discrimination, and obesity

    Obes Res

    (2001)
  • M.R. Hebl et al.

    Weighing the care: Patients’ perceptions of physician care as a function of gender and weight

    Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord

    (2003)
  • T.L. Brink

    Obesity and job discrimination: Mediation via personality stereotypes?

    Percept Mot Skills

    (1988)
  • Y. Fogelman et al.

    Managing obesity: A survey of attitudes and practices among Israeli primary care physicians

    Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord

    (2002)
  • G.D. Foster et al.

    Primary care physicians’ attitudes about obesity and its treatment

    Obes Res

    (2003)
  • C.M. Garner et al.

    Comparison of male and female nurses’ attitudes toward obesity

    Percept Mot Skills

    (1998)
  • D. Maroney et al.

    Nurses’ attitudes toward obese persons and certain ethnic groups

    Percept Mot Skills

    (1992)

    • Cited by (0)

    G. M. Dubale was a graduate student, Ohio University, Athens, at the time of this study.

    D. E. Berryman and D. S. Manchester are assistant professors, School of Human and Consumer Sciences, and

    R. Mittelstaedt is an associate professor, School of Recreation and Sport Sciences, Ohio University, Athens.

    View full text
    Copyright © 2006 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.