PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Essex, Gwen
AU  - Miyahara, Keiko
AU  - Rowe, Dorothy J.
TI  - Dental Hygienists&#039; Attitudes Toward the Obese Population
DP  - 2016 Dec 01
TA  - American Dental Hygienists Association
PG  - 372--378
VI  - 90
IP  - 6
4099  - http://jdh.adha.org/content/90/6/372.short
4100  - http://jdh.adha.org/content/90/6/372.full
SO  - J Dent Hyg2016 Dec 01; 90
AB  - Purpose: To explore dental hygienists&#039; attitudes toward the obese population and to determine whether there are differences in attitudes among those with different self-reported body images.Methods: The study population was dental hygienists whose email addresses were in the database of the California Dental Hygienists&#039; Association (CDHA). CDHA distributed the electronic message containing study information, informed consent, and a link to the survey. The survey consisted of 14 items from the Fat Phobia Scale, 13 items from the Anti-fat Attitudes Questionnaire (AFAQ), 3 demographic questions, and 1 question on body image. Frequencies of responses for each survey item were calculated, and Likert-like scale responses from the AFAQ were analyzed to determine significant differences among self-reported body images.Results: Of the 6,248 email addresses in the CDHA database, 518 hygienists or 8% responded. Mild fat phobia was indicated by 57% of the word pair scores on the Fat Phobia Scale being higher than 2.50. On the AFAQ, 84% agreed to the statement, “People who weigh too much could lose at least some part of their weight through a little exercise.” Significantly (p&amp;lt;0.05) more respondents who self-reported as overweight than underweight agreed to “I feel disgusted with myself when I gain weight” and “I worry about becoming fat,” while more in the overweight than underweight category significantly (p&amp;lt;0.05) disagreed with “Fat people make me somewhat uncomfortable.”Conclusion: Dental hygienists exhibited mildly negative attitudes toward the obese population. Curricula specific to the role of the dental hygienist in addressing the health effects of obesity are recommended.