Anti-fat attitudes among Spanish general population: Psychometric properties of the anti-fat attitudes scale

Weight discrimination is one of the worst forms of prejudice and is deeply rooted in society. The aim of this study was to adapt the anti-fat attitudes scale (AFA) to the Spanish general population. The sample consisted of 1248 participants from the Spanish community population. They were recruited through the internet and participated voluntarily. Women (77.8%) were more predominant than men. Regarding body weight categories, 5.3% were underweight, 43.5% were normal-weight, 24.9% were overweight and 26.3% had obesity. A cross-validation method with an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three-factor structure of the AFA. The Spanish version of the AFA showed a satisfactory internal consistency for all three factors, as well as adequate test-retest reliability after a 1-month interval. Finally, the Spanish version of the AFA seems to be an adequate tool to assess negative attitudes towards obesity in both clinical and research settings. Men presented more negative attitudes towards obesity and were convinced that obesity is under someone's control. Women presented more fear of gaining weight. Normal-weight people were those who discriminated more. Participants with overweight or obesity suffered more fear of gaining weight. There was no intra-group discrimination between individuals with overweight and obesity.