Obesity Bias
Conditions
Brief summary
An open-label parallel RCT will be conducted among 220 students pursuing a health-related degree at Ariel university. The intervention tool will be based on the constructive social learning model and will include a short lecture on obesity, scenarios simulating a meeting between health professionals and patients with obesity that will be presented by professional role-players and include varying degrees of weight bias, stigma and discrimination, and an open discourse with a patient with obesity. The tool's development will be carried out throughout recommended steps including a comprehensive literature review, preparation of a preliminary draft of the plan, evaluation of the planned intervention tool in terms of content validity, and a pilot testing of the tool among n=15 students from the target population. The control group will receive a short-written document on obesity. This study will utilize an embedded mixed-method approach. At baseline, one- and six- weeks post-intervention both groups will be asked to fill an anonymous online survey which will include demographics, weight and body perception, knowledge about obesity, the Anti-Fat Attitudes questionnaire, the Short-Form of Fat-Phobia scale, and the Weight-Implicit Association-Test. Moreover, in-depth interviews will be conducted among 15 participants from each group.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALAn active training tool on weight bias and knowledge about obesity
The intervention will take place at the university simulation center and include three components. First, a short lecture on obesity and weight bias. Second, four scenarios that simulate meetings between health professionals and people with obesity which will be presented by professional role-players in sequence. Each scenario will include a different therapeutic situation and include varying degrees of weight bias, stigma, and discrimination to stimulate students to think and react. Third, an active open discourse with a person with obesity will be held.
BEHAVIORALA short-written document on obesity
A short-written document on obesity which will be based on current literature.
Sponsors
Ariel University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* undergraduate students pursuing a healthcare-related degree including nutrition science, health systems management, communication disorders, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and nursing at Ariel university * age ≥18 years * willingness to participate in the study.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Anti-Fat Attitudes questionnaire ('AFA') | Change from baseline at six- weeks post-intervention | The 'AFA' indicates explicit anti-fat attitudes toward people with obesity and is composed of 13-items rated on a 10-point Likert scale and divided into three subscales ('dislike', 'fear about fat' and 'willpower'), with higher total scores indicating stronger anti-fat attitudes. |
| The short-form of fat-phobia scale (' F-scale') | Change from baseline at six- weeks post-intervention | The 'F-scale' indicates fat-phobic attitudes toward people with obesity and is composed of 14-pairs of adjectives that are used to describe people with obesity (e.g., 'no willpower' vs. 'has willpower') and ranked on a 1-5 scale according to the point closest to the adjective name that describes their feelings and beliefs. Higher scores indicate stronger fat-phobic attitudes. |
| Weight Implicit Association Test ('IAT') | Change from baseline at six- weeks post-intervention | IAT tool is an indirect measure of implicit bias toward weight which uses the constructs of fat people versus thin people and the polarized attitudes of good and bad to detect implicit weight bias. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge about obesity | Change from baseline at six- weeks post-intervention | Knowledge about obesity will be assessed by five questions that were written by the research team according to current literature. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Weight perception | At baseline | Questions regarding self-definition of weight status, the importance of weight to self-confidence, and much control a person has over the weight. |
| Objective height measurement | At baseline | Measurement of actual height in meters. |
| Semi structured interviews | At six- weeks post-intervention | Fifteen participants from each study group will be randomly chosen for conducting a semi-structured interviews. The interviews will take place six weeks post-intervention and will provide in-depth, detailed information regarding the participants' views of obesity and stigma after conducting the intervention. |
| Weight history | At baseline | Questions regarding current weight and height, obesity during childhood, obesity during last decade, family members who struggle with obesity, currently in any process of losing weight. |
| Objective weight measurement | At baseline | Measurement of actual weight in kilograms. |
| Demographics | At baseline | Questions regarding age, gender, occupation, marital status, religious affiliation, department of studies. |
| Body perception | At baseline | Body Appreciation Scale-2 is a 10-item scale which ranked on a 1-5 scale and assesses acceptance and/or favorable opinions towards a person's body. |
Countries
Israel
Outcome results
None listed