Relationship between obesity prejudices and healthy life style behaviors of nursing students

This study, which was conducted do evaluate the relationship between obesity bias and healthy lifestyle behaviors of nursing students, is descriptive and cross-sectional. The population of the study consisted of 1023 students who were studying at Çukurova University Faculty of Health Sciences Nursing Department during December 2018 - January 2019 academic year. The research was completed with 719 students who have taken the whole sample but agreed to participate in the research. Personal information form, GAMS-27 obesity bias scale (OÖÖ) and healthy lifestyle behaviors scale II (SYBDÖ-II) were used in collecting data. Percentage, standard deviation, mean, Mann-Whitney U Test and Kruskal-Wallis H Test were used to evaluate the data. In the study, it was determined that the students had a mean score of 78.73 ± 11.54 and a mean score of 128.17 ± 19.43, and that the students were prone to prejudice and had moderately healthy lifestyle behaviors. It was determined that the SYBDÖ-II scores of the students were affected by age groups, gender, BKI, class, place of stay, maternal education level, self-identification and nutrition, while the OÖÖ scores were only affected by gender. As a result, a very weak and statistically significant relationship was found between OÖÖ and SYBDÖ-II interpersonal relations sub-dimension (p <0.05). So as interpersonal relationships increase the lower size score, so does the obesity bias score. Increasing education on obesity bias and healthy lifestyle behaviors, avoiding labeling on obese individuals in mass media, providing opportunities for students to do their physical activities may be recommended. Keywords: Nursing students, Healthy lifestyle, Obesity, Obesity Bias