Assessing physical educators’ fat attitudes and PE role conceptions in relation to body weight

In this study, we conducted a needs assessment to inform professional development (PD) aimed at reducing weight stigma and creating weight-inclusive climates in physical education (PE). A total of 217 physical educators (PE majors, PE teachers, and PE teacher education faculty) completed the Fat Attitudes Assessment Toolkit (FAAT) and 199 also responded to open-ended questions about weight inclusivity. Results showed participants had moderate to high fat acceptance ( M = 5.07) and high attribution complexity ( M = 5.87). Although these scores suggest improved attitudes compared to previous studies, qualitative responses revealed persistent weight-centric orientations. Over half of participants (56.8%) maintained problem-focused PE role conceptions (solving obesity or including students while acknowledging weight concerns), whereas 40.7% endorsed supporting or transforming approaches; the remaining responses were coded as ambiguous or unknown. This divergence between fat acceptance scores and PE role conceptions highlights the complexity of addressing weight stigma in PE. Therefore, PD should be differentiated: educators maintaining weight-centric PE role conceptions need training on weight controllability and stigma harms, while those with wellbeing-focused orientations are ready for critical pedagogy and advocacy education.