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UK adults’ implicit and explicit attitudes towards obesity: a cross-sectional study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Anti-fat attitudes may lead to stigmatisation of and lowered self-esteem in obese people. Examining anti-fat attitudes is warranted given that there is an association with anti-fat behaviours. Previous studies, mainly outside the UK, have demonstrated that anti-fat attitudes are increasing over time. METHODS: The study was cross-sectional with a sample of 2380 participants (74.2 % female; aged 18-65 years). In an online survey participants reported demographic characteristics and completed a range of implicit and explicit measures of obesity related attitudes. RESULTS: Perceptions of obesity were more negative than reported in previously. Main effects indicated more negative perceptions in males, younger respondents and more frequent exercisers. Attitudes about obesity differed in relation to weight category, and in general were more positive in obese than non-obese respondents. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate anti-fat attitudes across different sections of the UK population. As such, this study provides the first indication of the prevalence of anti-fat attitudes in UK adults. Interventions to modify these attitudes could target specific groups of individuals with more negative perceptions as identified here. Future work would be useful that increases understanding of both implicit and explicit attitudes towards obesity.
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Weight stigma and discrimination are pervasive, global issues.
“Substantial research has demonstrated that weight stigma and discrimination are pervasive, global issues7,8.”
From Joint international consensus statement for ending stigma of obesity (2020) · cites this paper as [8]
The Discussion says anti-fat attitudes appear widespread among UK adults, and the Conclusions say these perceptions are similar to those reported in other countries, predominantly the US. The Introduction also describes increasing stigma and discrimination in various settings. These passages support the concern but do not establish that weight stigma and discrimination are pervasive globally. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Sorted by citations
Joint international consensus statement for ending stigma of obesity
Rubino, F., Puhl, R. M., Cummings, D. E., Eckel, R. H., Ryan, D. H., Mechanick, J. I., Nadglowski, J., Ramos Salas, X., Schauer, P. R., Twenefour, D., et al. (2020) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0803-x · Cited by 1,152
“Substantial research has demonstrated that weight stigma and discrimination are pervasive, global issues 7, 8 .”
BackgroundKnowledge gaps and weight stigma shape attitudes toward obesity
O'Keeffe, M., Flint, S. W., Watts, K., & Rubino, F. (2020) · The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology · doi:10.1016/s2213-8587(20)30073-5 · Cited by 80
Self-citationWeight Bias Internalization: The Maladaptive Effects of Moral Condemnation on Intrinsic Motivation
Täuber, S., Gausel, N., & Flint, S. W. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01836 · Cited by 29
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Flint, S. W., Hudson, J., & Lavallee, D.
- Affiliations
- Sheffield Hallam University (GB)
- Leeds Beckett University (GB)
- University of Stirling (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Flint, Stuart W.
- Venue
- BMC Obesity
- Published
- 2015-09-04
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 31-31
- ISSN
- 2052-9538 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4560922
- OpenAlex
- W1507860693
- Cited by
- 83
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 5.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMC Obesity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Leeds Beckett Repository (Leeds Beckett University) (acceptedVersion)
- SHURA (Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive) (Sheffield Hallam University) (acceptedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Aberystwyth University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity and Health Practices
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- anti-fat attitudes, weight stigma, implicit attitudes, explicit attitudes, obesity perception, self-esteem, gender differences, age differences, exercise frequency, weight categories, UK adults
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