Influence of Body Mass Index and Gender on Stigmatization of Obesity

Background 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. Material and Methods 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. Results 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