What’s Weighing Us Down: Study Uncovers Implicit Bias in Veterinary Obesity Care
Obesity is one of the most common and debilitating chronic diseases in dogs and cats today. You’d think that means we’re pretty good at spotting it, talking about it, and treating it. However, a new study conducted at the Ontario Veterinary College suggests that veterinary professionals may not be as objective as we think when it comes to pet obesity, and our unconscious biases might be limiting the effectiveness of our clinical and client communication efforts.
A group of veterinary researchers recently investigated how veterinary professionals perceive pet owners based on the body composition of both their pets and owners (i.e., combinations of images of dogs/cats and people representing lean or overweight). The findings, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, serve as a wake-up call for all of us working in animal health.
The Big Picture: What the Study Found
This study aimed to explore a topic often overlooked in veterinary practice: how unconscious bias may influence the way veterinary professionals perceive pet owners, particularly in relation to their weight or body condition.
To do this, researchers showed each participant just one randomly assigned scenario, or vignette. Each vignette featured a pet, either a lean or overweight dog or cat, alongside a pair of clients who were either both lean or both overweight. That created a total of eight combinations of pet and owner body types to evaluate.
The results raise important concerns about unconscious bias in pet obesity care and warrant further investigation. Participants rated owners of overweight dogs as significantly less effective caregivers than those of lean dogs, even when lifestyle factors were controlled in the vignette.
But with cats, it was the opposite. Owners of overweight cats were seen as more caring than owners of lean cats. Interestingly, the pet owner’s body composition had little direct effect on caregiver perceptions, suggesting that the pet’s body condition and morphology were stronger drivers of perceived caregiving quality.
When it came to hidden biases, the findings were even more striking. Over 90% of participants showed some level of unconscious preference for lean people over people who were overweight, based on results from a psychological tool called the Implicit Association Test. While this bias didn’t always show up in their direct ratings of clients, it may still influence how often and how effectively we talk about pet obesity in real-world settings.
In summary, this study found that owners of overweight dogs were viewed as less effective caregivers, while owners of overweight cats were seen as more caring, a surprising contrast that suggests veterinary professionals may unconsciously judge clients based on their pet’s body condition, a phenomenon known as “weight stigma by association.”
It’s important to note that this study relied on vignette-based scenarios and self-reported perceptions, which may not reflect actual clinical behavior due to social desirability bias. Additionally, the relatively small sample size per vignette and the lack of direct observation limit the ability to generalize findings across the broader veterinary profession.
Implicit Bias: It’s Under the Surface
The participants also took something called the Implicit Association Test, or IAT. This test measures automatic thoughts we’re not even aware we have. Over 90% of veterinary professionals showed some unconscious preference for lean people over those who were overweight.
That doesn’t mean we’re bad people. It means we’ve absorbed and been influenced by cultural and societal messages over time. If we aren’t aware of these mental shortcuts (and shortfalls), they can interfere with how we treat clients and how seriously we address obesity in pets.
Why This Matters for Pet Patients
Bias isn’t just a feeling. It shapes how we behave. Here’s where implicit weight bias gets real for veterinary professionals:
A client with an overweight dog might feel blamed and judged, even if we don’t say it out loud.
We may avoid talking about obesity with certain clients, especially if we assume they won’t follow through.
We might overlook a pet’s obesity altogether because we’re uncomfortable starting the conversation due to the person’s body condition.
And let’s not forget: Treating pet obesity isn’t just about feeding less and exercising more, although those play an important role. Obesity is a multifactorial disease. It leads to additional medical disorders. It causes pain. It shortens lives. It erodes quality of life. We owe it to every patient to treat it with the same objectivity and urgency as we would for cancer or kidney disease.
What Can We Do About It?
Implicit bias is sneaky. You can’t fix it if you don’t know it’s there. But awareness is the first step. Here are five things every veterinary professional can do right now:
Take the Implicit Association Test. It’s free at Project Implicit. Knowing your bias is the first step to changing it.
Use objective body condition tools. Don’t rely on a glance. Use body condition scores, weight trends, and even photos to guide discussions.
Practice nonjudgmental language. Instead of saying, “You’re overfeeding,” try, “Let’s talk about how many calories Charlie needs each day to feel his best.”
Treat obesity as a medical issue. Don’t frame it as a personality flaw. Your client isn’t lazy. Their dog has a chronic, treatable condition.
Role-play tough conversations with your team. Practice makes progress. Normalize talking about body condition as part of preventive care.
Audit your communication. Periodically review medical records or shadow appointments to see how and when overweight or obesity is discussed, and where opportunities may be missed.
Where We Go from Here
Veterinary professionals understand that pet obesity is a significant concern. The gap isn’t in caring, it’s in communication. And that’s something we can change.
At APOP and the World Pet Obesity Association (WPOA), we’re committed to a deeper understanding of clinical obesity. That means treating it as the disease it is, not a cosmetic concern or a sign of neglect. But to do that, veterinary professionals need to reject weight bias, whether it’s implicit or explicit, directed at the owner or their pet.
Our pets are counting on us to get this right.
Link to this Study:
Partington, A. J., Sutherland, K. A., Clow, K. M., Abood, S. K., and Coe, J. B. (2025). Implicit weight bias exists among veterinary professionals. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, available from: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.25.02.0073
Additional References on Implicit Weight Bias in Humans:
Puhl, R.M., Lessard, L.M., Pearl, R.L., Himmelstein, M.S. and Foster, G.D., 2021. International comparisons of weight stigma: addressing a void in the field. International Journal of Obesity, 45(9), pp.1976–1985.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00860-zLawrence, B.J., Kerr, D.A., Pollard, C.M., Norman, R., Dhaliwal, S.S., Wright, J.L., Allsop, D.J. and Green, B., 2021. Weight bias among health care professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity, 29(11), pp.1802–1812.
https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.23266Sabin, J.A., Marini, M. and Nosek, B.A., 2012. Implicit and explicit anti-fat bias among a large sample of medical doctors by BMI, race/ethnicity and gender. PLoS ONE, 7(11), e48448.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048448Huizinga, M.M., Cooper, L.A., Bleich, S.N., Clark, J.M. and Beach, M.C., 2009. Physician respect for patients with obesity. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 24(11), pp.1236–1239.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-1104-8Pearl RL, Wadden TA, Bach C, Leonard SM, Michel KE. Who's a good boy? Effects of dog and owner body weight on veterinarian perceptions and treatment recommendations. Int J Obes (Lond). 2020 Dec;44(12):2455-2464. doi: 10.1038/s41366-020-0622-7. Epub 2020 Jun 10. PMID: 32523035; PMCID: PMC7686094.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32523035/
Want more tips on fighting pet obesity? Visit us at www.petobesityprevention.org or follow us on social media for more information. Let’s work together to end this epidemic, one patient, one conversation, one team at a time.