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August 16, 2026CureusOpen Access

Comparative Perspectives on Obesity From Medical Students, Practitioners, and Non-medical Students

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Authors

SRSophia RafiqZPZainab PervaizTKTaleah Khan

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Overview

Cross-sectional study reveals lower opposition to classifying obesity as a disease among medical practitioners compared to non-medical students, suggesting clinical training reduces weight stigma.

Key Points

  • Compare perceptions and attitudes toward classifying obesity as a chronic disease among medical practitioners, medical students, and non-medical students.
  • Comparative analytical cross-sectional survey of 264 participants (medical practitioners, medical students, and non-medical students) in Pakistan using an adapted 33-item questionnaire.
  • Assessed group differences using the Kruskal-Wallis test for non-normal variables and one-way ANOVA with post hoc testing for normally distributed variables.
  • Factors supporting the classification of obesity as a disease did not differ significantly among the three groups (Kruskal-Wallis p = 0.436).
  • Opposition to disease classification differed significantly across groups (ANOVA p = 0.036), with post hoc analysis revealing significantly lower opposition scores in medical practitioners compared to non-medical students (p = 0.041).

Cite This Study

Rafiq et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a817a11f2fb91fc834ada80https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.114546
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Attitude and Practice regarding Obesity and its Complications among Medical Students of University of Al-Qadissiyah/ Iraq2026
  2. 2A cross-sectional assessment of obesity among medical students of central India2024 · 3 citations
  3. 3Association of Age and Gender with the BMI of Obese Subjects in Pakistan2022 · 2 citations
  4. 4Factors Affecting Obesity Among Adults Attending the University of Lahore Teaching Hospital, Pakistan2024
  5. 5Knowledge and perceptions of obesity among undergraduate medical students in Colombia: a cross-sectional survey2026