Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Associated Lifestyle Behaviours among Female Nurses in Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are de ned as abnormal or excessive body fat accumulation that may impair health. Being overweight and obese among nurses is an important issue as it can a ect their health and professional capability which may directly impact healthcare quality and budget. A descriptive study was conducted at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital (CSTH) to identify the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the lifestyle behaviours related to overweight and obesity among female nurses. Two hundred and two female nurses have been recruited randomly respecting the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22. The response rate was 80.8%. Majority (37.13%) were obese with a Body Mass Index (BMI) 25 kgm􀀀2 while 22.28% (BMI=23- 24.9 kgm􀀀2 were overweight, 4.95% were underweight (BMI < 18.5 kgm􀀀2. Only 35.64% of nurses were in the normal range (BMI=18.5-22.9 Kg/m2) of Asian BMI classi cation. Most nurses (64.9%, n=131) take snacks two times per day and 74.3% (n=150) used to take a snack during the night shift. Sixty-three (31.2%) nurses used to skip their breakfast or dinner in stressful situations. More than half of the nurses (58.4%, n=118) never engaged in any type of exercise for years. The majority of nurses (23.8%, n=48) engaged in 24 hours of extra duty per week while 38.1% (n=77) engaged in one-night shift per week. Inadequate exercise, unhealthy snacks, extra work, fast foods and skipping meals were identi ed as unhealthy lifestyle behaviours related to overweight and obesity.