Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Nurses in Bahrain: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Despite the plethora of studies on obesity in nurses worldwide, there is a paucity of studies in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) including Bahrain. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses in BahrainMethods: We used secondary data from a study that examined musculoskeletal self-reported symptoms among nurses in Bahrain. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was determined by calculating the percentages of BMI using the World Health Organization classification.Results: A total of 550 nurses participated in the study. Most were females (n=488, 89.1%), ages 31 to 40 (n=239, 43.8%). The mean BMI was 26.9 (±4.4). A total of 64.6% of nurses in Bahrain were overweight and obese. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 43.2% and 21.4%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is associated with nationality and shift work. Conclusion: We used BMI to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, which is widely used in the literature. However, BMI does not consider muscle mass, bone density, overall body composition, and racial and sex differences. Therefore, in future studies, body fat proportion and muscle mass need to be measured to estimate the prevalence and predict risks for disease development, morbidity, and mortality. Leaders in health care institutions and professional nursing organizations in Bahrain should consider ways to promote nurses’ health by improving working conditions and providing access to facilities that promote health and wellbeing.

Assessment the Awareness of the Syrian Population toward the Risk Factors and Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer: Cross Sectional Study

“…Moreover, while only seventeen percent of the sample exhibited a good awareness of CRC risk factors, a moderate level of awareness was comparably equated by most participants (42% and nearly 41%) for the symptoms and risk factors of CRC, respectively. Consistent with our results, other studies conducted in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have reported a low overall awareness level and mean score of symptoms and risk factors of CRC among the general populations [23,24] Moreover, in agreement with this study, studies conducted in UAE, Qatar, Jordan, and Lebanon have also found a lower level of knowledge of CRC symptoms and risk factors among the studied populations (the level of good awareness was 40s %, 40%, 34%, and 33% respectively) [14,[25][26][27]. Contrary to our ndings, a higher level of good awareness of colorectal cancer was reported among American, British, Malaysian, Turkish, and Norwegian populations [28][29][30][31][32].…”

“…There were 712 responses gathered, and 12 were eliminated because they did not match the inclusion requirements, leaving 702 as the nal sample size. The median age for all participants was 23 (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), and the majority of participants were aged 18 to 44 (632 (90%)), and 430(61.3%) of the participants were females. The majority of participants have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in education, 608(86.6%).…”