Background: The association between obesity and age, lifestyle choices, and adverse health outcomes are well documented. However, to date the association between these variables has not been studied either in female nurses in Indi. The study was conducted in zonal hospitals of Uttar Pradesh to examine the prevalence of obesity in relation with chronic diseases such as DM, Hypertension, etc. and examine association between obesity parameters, age, blood pressure, lifestyle, and chronic diseases. Method: A total of 182 Nurses were surveyed from five (05) zonal hospitals in Uttar Pradesh who were on duty and not pregnant at the time of data collection. Results: 20% of the subjects were overweight (body mass index 25-29.9kg/m2) and 5% were obese; 54% of the subjects had central obesity (waist circumference > 80cm). Obesity and central obesity were significantly associated with age, blood pressure, and chronic diseases. Data did not reveal an inverse relationship between lifestyle and World Health Organization (WHO) recommended body mass index (BMI) cutoff points; waist circumference (WC) cutoff points. However, when we adopted WC cutoff points advocated by Mishra et al., (2003, 2006, & 2010) for Asian Indians we found high prevalence of central obesity and inverse relationship with physical activity. A majority of Nurses reported irregular working hours and lack of time, lack of motivation, and lack of facilities to exercise as barriers to their health maintenance behavior. Conclusion: Overweight and obesity according to WHO BMI cutoff points was moderately prevalent but, central obesity was highly prevalent in Nurses.
Obesity, BMI, Waist Circumference, Central Obesity
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