Phys-Ed Teachers Have An "Anti-Fat Bias" According To Study

In TRULY. SHOCKING. NEWS, phys-ed teachers have been found to hold a “strong anti-fat bias” towards overweight students.

At least, that’s according to a study of 240 trainee teachers conducted by Dr. Marita Lynagh, senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the study revealed an “anti-fat” bias in all teachers, but PE teachers were four times as likely to have “implicit negative beliefs about obese children.”

What’s particularly puzzling is that the study similarly found PE teachers were “almost three times as likely to think [obese children] were not as clever as other children.”

Dr. Lynagh also said that 30 per cent of the teachers questioned believed obesity to be “one of the worst things that could happen to a child.”

“In their view it was pretty much worse than dying,” she added.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare states that 25 per cent of Aussie children between the ages of two and 17 are obese. This means that any “anti-fat bias” is a real impediment to a quarter of students, and thus, an issue that needs addressing.

"[T]here's a big expectation in schools that teachers, particularly PE teachers, that they can have a really big impact on helping kids become more active and teaching kids about health," Dr. Lynagh said.

"What the studies seem to show is they are really biased about overweight kids, so how are they going to do that?"