• Olivia Branche, Camille Buscail, Sandrine Péneau, Julia Baudry, Christine Poitou, Jean-Michel Oppert, Sébastien Czernichow, Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot, Mathilde Touvier, Chantal Julia, and Alice Bellicha.
• Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center - University Paris Cité (CRESS), CNAM, INRAE U1125, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U1153, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Bobigny, France.
• Am J Prev Med. 2023 Aug 1; 65 (2): 201212201-212.

IntroductionExplicit weight bias is an underlying cause of weight stigma, but its associations with individual characteristics are not well known. This study aimed to assess explicit weight bias in French adults and to explore the associations with weight status and sociodemographic characteristics.MethodsAdults from the NutriNet-Santé cross-sectional study (France, 2020, n=33,948, 52% women after weighting procedures) completed the Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire assessing three dimensions: Dislike (antipathy toward people with obesity), Fear of fat (concerns about body weight), and Willpower (belief in weight controllability). Associations with weight status and sociodemographic characteristics were examined using multivariable ANCOVA models in 2022.ResultsFear of fat and Willpower scores were higher than Dislike scores (mean [SD]=4.0 [2.0], 3.3 [1.7] and 1.9 [1.3], respectively). Fear of fat was higher among women, whereas Dislike and Willpower were higher among men (all p<0.0001). Obesity was associated with greater Fear of fat scores (p<0.0001, mean difference versus normal-weight participants [95% CI]=0.35 [0.24, 0.46] in women, 0.36 [0.17, 0.56] in men), lower Dislike scores (-0.38 [-0.45, -0.32] in women, -0.43 [-0.56, -0.30] in men), and lower Willpower scores (-1.00 [-0.18, -0.90] in women, -0.40 [-0.57, -0.23] in men). In both genders, lower income was associated with lower Dislike, Fear of fat, and Willpower scores (all p<0.0001), and lower education was associated with greater Fear of fat and Willpower scores (all p<0.0001).ConclusionsExplicit weight bias was driven by the fear of gaining weight and the belief in weight controllability. This study provides new insights into which population subgroups should be targeted by interventions aimed at reducing explicit weight bias.Copyright © 2023 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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