Examining the effect of obesity awareness training on the fat phobia levels of the school of physical education and sports students and their attitudes towards obese individuals

The purpose of this study is to examine the fat phobia levels of the School of Physical Education and Sports students and their attitudes towards obese individuals and to investigate whether or not attending a six week training course explaining the reasons for obesity and the problems faced by obese individuals in society affected the aforementioned phobia and attitudes. The study sample constituted first, second, third, and fourth year students who are educated in the Physical Education Teaching and Coaching Education departments of Çukurova University Physical Education and Sport College in the 2015-2016 academic year. A total of 241 participants, 106 from the Coaching Education Department and 135 from the Physical Education Teaching Department, participated in the research. In this study, an experimental model was used. A fat phobia scale and a scale of attitudes towards obese Individuals were used in the study to collect data. Data obtained within the scope of the study was analyzed with the IBS SPSS 20 statistical package program. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, and standard deviation were used to present the demographic information of the participants. The t test, mixed ANOVA, and factorial ANOVA tests were used to compare the pre-test and post-test results of the control and experimental groups. A statistically significant difference was found as a result of the comparison of the differences between the pre-test and post-test measurements of the experimental and control groups, t (239): - 2,54, p <0,01. As a result, it was determined that that the obesity awareness training had a significant impact on students of the Physical Education and Sports High School on the level of fat phobia and attitudes towards obese individuals, and there was a statistically significant decrease in negative prejudice levels against overweight individuals Keywords: fat phobia, obesity, weight, obese.