Prospective physicians’ body image, and prejudices against obesity: a cross-sectional descriptive study

The aim of this study was to determine medical school students' body image perceptions and prejudices towards obese individuals, reveal the relationship between these two concepts, determine the influencing factors, and raise awareness of the issue. The sample of the study consisted of 665 medical school students. 'Student Information Form', 'GAMS-27 Obesity Prejudice Scale' and 'Body Appreciation Scale' were used to collect data. For data analysis arithmetic mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage distribution, t test/one-way analysis of variance, correlation coefficient, Shapiro-Wilk test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Spearman rho correlation coefficient, Kruskal Wallis H test, Mann-Whitney U test and Single One-way ANOVA F test were used. The overall Body Appreciation Scale and GAMS-27 Obesity Prejudice Scale mean scores were 27.57 ± 4.22 and 82.75 ± 10.68, respectively. There was no relationship between the Body Appreciation Scale and GAMS-27 Obesity Prejudice Scale mean scores (p > 0.05). The participants were prejudiced towards obese individuals. Factors such as gender, year of study, participation in sports, perceived body image, and desire to care for an obese patient did not affect the scores on the GAMS-27 Obesity Prejudice Scale and Body Appreciation Scale.