A systematic review of interventions that aim to reduce implicit and explicit weight biases among fitness professionals

Schneider, Kat; Tinoco, Aline; Scott, Becky; Witcomb, Gemma L; Matheson, Emily L; Diedrichs, Phillippa C

Abstract

Despite the high prevalence of weight bias among fitness professionals, few resources are currently available to educate fitness professionals about weight bias and no systematic review of weight bias interventions has been conducted among this population. This paper therefore reviewed extant weight bias interventions for fitness professionals to inform future weight bias-reduction initiatives. Seven reports comprising six studies were identified from inception until April 2024. Findings showed small to large improvements in explicit weight bias, particularly on the weight control/blame component. No improvements were observed in implicit weight bias. The results show an urgent need to bridge the gap between the resources currently available in the fitness industry and those developed by the scientific community and to develop novel multifaceted interventions that draw from multiple theories of attitude and behavior change to effectively tackle weight bias among fitness professionals.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 16, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Oct 11, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-10
• Deposit Date: Oct 13, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 15, 2024
• Print ISSN: 1558-8661
• Electronic ISSN: 1558-867X
• Publisher: Human Kinetics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 197-215
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/15588661241280200
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13283975