The global prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analyses.

Background: Several studies have reported the prevalence of overweight and obesity in various countries but the global prevalence of nurses with overweight and obesity remains unclear. A consolidation of figures globally can help stakeholders worldwide improve workforce development and healthcare service delivery.

Objective: To investigate the global prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses.

Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis.

Setting: 29 different countries across the WHO-classified geographical region.

Participants: Nurses.

Methods: Eight electronic databases were searched for articles published from inception to January 2023. Two independent reviewers performed the article screening, methodological appraisal and data extraction. Methodological appraisal was conducted using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Inter-rater agreement was measured using Cohen's Kappa. Meta-analyses were conducted to pool the effect sizes on overweight, obesity and waist circumference using random effects model and adjusted using generalised linear mixed models and Hartung-Knapp method. Logit transformation was employed to stabilise the prevalence variance. Subgroup analyses were performed based on methodological quality and geographical regions. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I statistic.

Results: Among 10,587 studies, 83 studies representing 158,775 nurses across 29 countries were included. Based on BMI, the global prevalence of overweight and obesity were 31.2% (n = 55, 95% CI: 29%-33.5%; p < .01) and 16.3% (n = 76, 95% CI: 13.7%-19.3%, p < .01), respectively. Subgroup analyses indicated that the highest prevalence of overweight was in Eastern Mediterranean (n = 9, 37.2%, 95% CI: 33.1%-41.4%) and that of obesity was in South-East Asia (n = 5, 26.4%, 95% CI: 5.3%-69.9%). NOS classification, NOS scores, sample size and the year of data collected were not significant moderators.

Conclusions: This review indicated the global prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses along with the differences between regions. Healthcare organisations and policymakers should appreciate this increased risk and improve working conditions and environments for nurses to better maintain their metabolic health.

Patient Or Public Contribution: Not applicable as this is a systematic review.

Registration: PROSPERO (ref: CRD42023403785) https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=403785.

Tweetable Abstract: High prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses worldwide.