Studies have shown that healthcare professionals often demonstrate obesity biases, which in turn reduce the quality of care obese patients receive. The purpose of the current study was to describe third and fourth year University of Hawai'i, John A. Burns School of Medicine medical students' attitudes towards obese patients. Data were collected using previously validated questions from a pilot study assessing how healthcare providers react and recommend medical care to patients with varying characteristics. The responses of 114 medical students were analyzed. Overall, the majority of students' responses reflected the belief that obesity may be a behavioral issue. There were no statistically significant differences between the third and fourth year students' responses. Important areas of future research include assessing students' awareness of the social determinants of health and ability to self-identify possible biases in caring for obese patients.
Keywords: attitude; bias; medical students; obese patients; obesity.