Perceived vulnerability to disease and antifat attitudes in a sample of children and teenagers

Purpose Perceived vulnerability to disease (beliefs about personal susceptibility to contracting an infectious disease) is usually related to the expression of prejudice towards different stigmatized groups. In this study, the relationship between this variable and the expression of the prejudice towards obese people was analyzed. Method The sample comprised a total of 137 children and teenagers, aged between 12 and 17 years, from a Spanish high school who fulfilled several scales which measure perceived vulnerability to disease, antifat attitudes and perceived controllability of weight. Additionally, body mass index (BMI) was calculated by means of the participants’ height and weight. Results Perceived infectability (one of the factors of the perceived vulnerability to disease scale) was negatively related to controllability of weight, and germ aversion (the second factor of the vulnerability scale), showed a positive relationship with the antipathy towards obese people. Finally, perceived controllability of weight was positively correlated with BMI. Conclusions The implications of these results in the field of the study of the prejudice toward obese people are discussed. To our knowledge, no other studies have investigated the relationship between perceived vulnerability to disease and antifat attitudes in minors. Additionally, this is the first time that the measured BMI has been used instead of the self-reported one.