ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Family Medicine and Primary Care
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1668886
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Trends in Managing Obesity in Primary CareView all 5 articles
Obesity-related knowledge, attitude, and practices among primary care physicians in China: A cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, China
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Background: Obesity is a major global public health crisis but remains inadequately addressed during clinical encounters. In China, the primary healthcare system plays a vital role in managing chronic; however, the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of primary care physicians (PCPs) regarding obesity have not been previously described. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 240 PCPs in Southwest China using self-administered KAP questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed obesity-related KAP and were measured using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics and univariate analyses were used to analyze the data. Results: In total, 240 PCPs completed the survey. While the majority (75.0%) reported awareness of the adverse health effects of obesity, their attitudes toward obesity management were generally negative. Notably, significant gaps were found in both knowledge and practice. Obesity knowledge of PCPs and practice subscale scores were 45.9% and 23.1% of the corresponding optimal scores, respectively. Exposure to formal obesity-related training was associated with significantly higher scores in knowledge (3.95±2.04 vs. 2.32±2.16, p<0.001), attitudes (4.59±1.12 vs. 3.96±1.18, p<0.001) and practices (1.76±1.06 vs. 1.25±1.00 p=0.001). Conclusion: Substantial gaps exist in the KAP of PCPs regarding obesity in Southwest China. Formal training appears to significantly improve obesity-related KAP and may enhance the primary care management of patients with obesity.
Keywords: Obesity, Knowledge, attitude, practice, primary care providers, southwest China, Cross-sectional study
Received: 18 Jul 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tang, Chen and Pi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Linhua Pi, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, China
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