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Association of morbid obesity with fat phobia: A case-control study from the Metabolic Surgery Clinic, Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi

Background: There is an expansion in the prevalence of obesity and overweight in India. Fat phobia is known to have serious physical and psychological adverse effects and is associated with obesity. Aim: To find the association between morbid obesity and fat phobia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational, case-control study. Morbid obesity was defined as the Body-Mass Index (BMI) >35.5kg/m2 with co-morbidities or BMI >40 kg/m2 with or without co-morbidities. A morbidly obese patient was defined as a ‘case’ while non-morbidly obese individuals were ‘control’. Cases were recruited from the Metabolic Surgery Clinic using the purposive sampling technique. Controls were family member attending the clinic accompanying the patient or medical undergraduate students. A semi-structured proforma to record socio-demographic characteristics and clinical features were designed. Fat Phobia Scale-Short Form (FPS-SF) was administered. Result: Sample comprised 48 cases and 127 controls (1:3). We found a higher association of morbid obesity with fat phobia on FPS-SF [unadjusted OR(95%CI)=1.120(1.070-1.173)(p-value=0.000), although adjusted Odd’s Ratio (OR)(95%CI)=1.046(0.936-1.169)(p-value=0.428)]. Regarding socio-demographic and clinical variables, an association of morbid obesity with gender, graduation, employment, middle socioeconomic status, religion, obstructive sleep apnoea, hypertension, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, and osteoarthritis was noted. Conclusion: Morbid obesity is associated with fat phobia in an equal proportion. However, in the real-world scenario, this association (adjusted OR>1, p-value>0.05) may not be relevant.