Associations between overweight and obesity and health enhancing behaviours among female nurses in Poland

Abstract

Introduction and objective. The nursing profession entails many negative factors and high risk of chronic diseases, including overweight and obesity. The aim of the study is to investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity and health enhancing behaviours in Polish female nurses, and associations between overweight and 4 groups of such behaviours, age and shift work. Materials and method. The analysis covered data obtained through cross-sectional survey carried out in a group of 994 nurses with an average age of 43. The analysis covered answers about 29 health-enhancing behaviours divided into 4 categories (subscales): 1) nutrition, 2) physical activity, 3) sleep, rest and behaviours related to mental health, 4) preventive behaviours. They were analysed through the validated Positive Health Behaviours Scale for adults. The analysis also covered answers about avoiding drinking large amounts of alcohol in one go, not smoking, avoiding passive smoking, not abusing unprescribed drugs. Results. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 44%. Of 29 health behaviours concerned with nutrition, physical activity, sleep, rest, and mental health, preventive behaviours, 3 were exhibited always or almost always by over a half of the nurses. Health behaviours were more common in nurses whose BMI was normal than in nurses with BMI ≥ 25.0. Age and low physical activity levels were related to overweight and obesity in nurses. Conclusions. The study revealed a high prevalence of overweight and obesity and many deficits in health behaviours. Obesity and health behaviour deficits pose risks to the health of nurses, limit their involvement in prevention and treatment of patient obesity and impact as health educators. It is essential to engage in actions for health promotion among nurses.

Nutrition Habits of Polish Nurses: An Approach

“…In our cohort, nearly half (45.5%) of nurses were overweight or obese, which reflects the percentage of adult women in Poland as a whole (40% in 2017) [ 29 ]. A similar percentage of overweight/obesity (44%) was observed earlier in Polish nurses [ 30 ]. Although this indicator of overweight/obesity is lower than that observed in other countries, including Australia (61%) [ 17 ], Scotland (69%) [ 31 ] and the USA (49%) [ 32 ], it is still worth reducing it.…”

“…The assessment of the nutrition disorders of nurses was performed using the My Eating Habits questionnaire [18]. Younger nurses (<31 years old) demonstrated a greater tendency for habitual overeating, in comparison to nurses older than 30 Moreover, overweight and obese nurses demonstrated a greater tendency toward inappropriate nutrition choices, especially with regards to emotional overeating in comparison to the remaining analysed subjects (p = 0.000, One-way ANOVA; Table 2).…”

Health‐related behaviours of nurses in Poland: The role of Type D personality

“…Almost half (45.5%) of the nurses in our cohort were overweight or obese, which reflects the proportion observed among adult women in the general Polish population (40% in 2014) (Główny Urząd Statystyczny Departament Badań Demograficznych, 2018). A similar percentage of overweight/obesity (44%) was previously observed in Polish nurses (Woynarowska‐Sołdan et al., 2018). Although this rate of overweight/obesity in Poland is lower than that observed in other countries, including Australia (61%) (Perry et al., 2018), Scotland (69%) (Kyle, Neall, & Atherton, 2016) and the United States (49%) (Chin, Nam, & Lee, 2016), it is still worth reducing.…”

Smoking Status and Health Beliefs Related to Smoking of Nurses in Working a Cancer Hospital, in Turkey

“…Their median BMI of 23.9 shows that their weight is within normal weight limits, which confirms their healthy habits. Previous studies conducted among nurses showed them to have similar BMI values such as 25.1 or within the healthy weight range (15,16). These studies report that nurses with a healthy weight engage significantly more in health-enhancing behaviors with the desired frequency.…”