ArticleBMJ open2017
Obesity prevalence among healthcare professionals in England: a cross-sectional study using the Health Survey for England.
Article in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 168 citations in OpenAlex.
- Healthcare staff perceptions of the hospital food environment: a narrative systematic review.Public health nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Lifestyle Health Promotion Interventions for Nurses: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among diabetic patients: a meta-analysis.Acta diabetologica · 2019Pooled it
- Prompting consumers to make healthier food choices in hospitals: a cluster randomised controlled trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Trial
- Are Sustainable and Healthy Eating Behaviors and Levels of Nutritional Knowledge Associated with Obesity and Anthropometric Indicators of Chronic Disease Risk Among Healthcare Workers?Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Sex-Specific Misclassification of Obesity When Using Body Mass Index in Young Healthcare Professionals: A Large Cross-Sectional Study Using Multiple Adiposity Indices.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Health Behaviors Associated With Overweight and Obesity Among Physicians.Obesity science & practice · 2026Article
- A prospective observational study of lifestyle behaviors and biomarkers to promote cardiometabolic health in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Obesity and Occupational Disparities in Urban China: Evidence from a Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Burnout is a predictor of high ten-year risk of cardiovascular disease among health workers in Ghana.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Eating Behaviours Among Healthcare Workers and Their Relationships With Work-Related Burnout.American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2025Article
- Self-care practices of professionals on residency programs in the state of Paraíba in Brazil and their implications for primary health care.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Are the healers healthy? Exploring non-communicable diseases among healthcare workers in Ajman, United Arab Emirates.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Weight Bias in Nursing: A Pilot Study on Feasibility and Negative Attitude Assessment Among Primary Care Nurses.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
- Measurement and Evaluation of Health, Functional Capacity, Physical Fitness, and Daily Habits of Greek Female Healthcare Professionals Working in a Hospital Environment.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Predictors of nutritional health risks among midwives in the context of midwifery work.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Overweight/obesity among health professionals and associated factors.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2025Article
- Chronic disease risk factors among hospital employees: A cross-sectional study in Türkiye.PloS one · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo estimate obesity prevalence among healthcare professionals in England and compare prevalence with those working outside of the health services.
designCross-sectional study based on data from 5 years (2008-2012) of the nationally representative Health Survey for England.
settingEngland.
participants20 103 adults aged 17-65 years indicating they were economically active at the time of survey classified into four occupational groups: nurses (n=422), other healthcare professionals (n=412), unregistered care workers (n=736) and individuals employed in non-health-related occupations (n=18 533). OUTCOME MEASURE: Prevalence of obesity defined as body mass index ≥30.0 with 95% CIs and weighted to reflect the population.
resultsObesity prevalence was high across all occupational groups including: among nurses (25.1%, 95% CI 20.9% to 29.4%); other healthcare professionals (14.4%, 95% CI 11.0% to 17.8%); non-health-related occupations (23.5%, 95% CI 22.9% to 24.1%); and unregistered care workers who had the highest prevalence of obesity (31.9%, 95% CI 28.4% to 35.3%). A logistic regression model adjusted for sociodemographic composition and survey year indicated that, compared with nurses, the odds of being obese were significantly lower for other healthcare professionals (adjusted OR (aOR) 0.52, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.75) and higher for unregistered care workers (aOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.93). There was no significant difference in obesity prevalence between nurses and people working in non-health-related occupations (aOR 0.94, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.18).
conclusionsHigh obesity prevalence among nurses and unregistered care workers is concerning as it increases the risks of musculoskeletal conditions and mental health conditions that are the main causes of sickness absence in health services. Further research is required to better understand the reasons for high obesity prevalence among healthcare professionals in England to inform interventions to support individuals to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
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