Anti-fat bias in secondary school teachers: Are physical education teachers more biased than mathematics teachers?

Abstract

It has been suggested that physical education (PE) teachers hold strong anti-fat attitudes and that these can have an impact on the health of their students. In this study, we compare the attitudes and stereotypes towards obesity of PE teachers with those of their colleagues who teach mathematics. In addition, we evaluated the association between the teachers’ anti-fat biases and the level of physical activity (PA) of their students. The sample consisted of 81 PE teachers and 75 mathematics teachers. The adolescent sample consisted of 1792 secondary school students. The assessment of attitudes and stereotypes was conducted with the Implicit Association Test and the Anti-Fat Attitudes questionnaire. The PA level of the adolescents was determined by a self-administered instrument. PE and mathematics teachers showed similar biases, except for the automatic obesity–laziness association, which was stronger for PE teachers than for mathematics teachers. These distinctive implicit stereotypes of PE teachers were also significant predictors of the lack of PA in adolescents. We recommend the use of interventions aimed at reducing non-traditional forms of prejudice in teachers.

A multicultural education perspective: engaging students and educators to critically exam fat ideology in teacher education and P-12 classrooms

“…It can evolve not only into prejudiced attitudes but also discriminatory behaviors toward individuals based on their body size or weight. This bias often perpetuates the notion that thinness is inherently superior, while larger bodies are often associated with negative traits, such as laziness, lack of self-control and unattractiveness (Carmona-M arquez et al, 2023;Nutter et al, 2019;Schorb, 2022). This ideology is deeply rooted in many societies and can manifest in various ways, including media portrayals, medical biases, workplace discrimination and interpersonal interactions.…”

“…It can evolve not only into prejudiced attitudes but also discriminatory behaviors toward individuals based on their body size or weight. This bias often perpetuates the notion that thinness is inherently superior, while larger bodies are often associated with negative traits, such as laziness, lack of self-control and unattractiveness (Carmona-Márquez et al. , 2023; Nutter et al.…”

Weight stigma, welfare stigma, and political values: evidence from a representative British survey

“…A visible transgression of a social norm (2), obesity elicits reactions of blame and dislike (3). Weight-related discrimination is widely observed in medical (4,5), educational (6,7) and workplace settings (8,9), which can damage health and social functioning in diverse ways. Experience of weight stigma is associated with impaired mental health (10,11) and worse quality of life (12).…”