Examining the role of work-related factor, psychosocial factor and weight control behavior on obesity among nurses

Obesity has widespread in many developing nations, including Malaysia. Obesity among nurses has also increased from 36% in 2019 to 42% in 2020. Obesity is known as a dangerous health problem. When a person is obese, they have higher risk for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, sleep apnea, and cancers that will decreases the individual quality of life. Nurses in Malaysia were also found to have chronic illnesses such as hypercholesterolemia and hypertension. This circumstance does not help the nurses' credibility in giving health education to the general population. When obese people with chronic diseases increased, cost of treatment will also increase. Therefore, this study was conducted with the intention to capture factors that might influence obesity among nurses. The study examines the direct
relationship between work-related factor, psychosocial factor, weight control behavior and obesity. A total of 306 questionnaire were distributed to nurses on site through head nurse or team leader after permission was granted by the hospital. Response rate was 100%. In this study, hypotheses for direct effect were tested using multiple regression analyses. Results showed that only work-related factor was significantly positively related to obesity. The findings indicate that obesity issues among nurses can be reduced by improving on the work-related factor such as encouraging the nurses to do simple exercise during work break during irregular or
long working hours, limit the computer usage in daily working hours and working days in a week, improve on the working environment, and reduce stress related to job.