Investigation of Prejudice against Obesity in Students of Sports Sciences

Abstract

The aim of this study is to reveal prejudice against obesity in students who study sports sciences at the university level in Turkey in terms of different variables. The sample group of the study included 387 randomly chosen students of sports sciences from Bingöl University, Fırat University, Sütçü İmam University and Düzce University. To collect data from the sample, the “Obesity Prejudice Scale” was used. For the data collected, the normality test was conducted to determine whether the “Obesity Prejudice Scale” provided the normality assumption. “Independent Samples t-test”, a parametric test, was conducted to evaluate the level of differentiation in gender, an independent variable. To determine differentiation in variables of grade, university and monthly income, “ANOVA” tests were conducted. The level of statistical significance (α error level) was regarded as p<0.05. It was determined that the sports sciences students’ perceptions of obesity prejudice demonstrated statistically significant differences in terms of the universities (p<0.05). It was also determined that the obesity prejudice of the students did not differ significantly according to their gender, grade and monthly income (p>0.05). In conclusion, it seems impossible to eliminate prejudice against obese individuals, just like any other social problem. Therefore, it was concluded that the problems experienced by obese individuals are not their choices and should be qualified as diseases. Decision-makers can provide education in helping obese individuals by conducting awareness studies and developing social responsibility projects. Obesity can be averted by increasing studies on especially balanced nutrition and physical activity.