World Obesity Day

World Obesity Day

World Obesity Day

Did you know that an annual day is dedicated to the urgent issue of obesity?  This year, March 4th is the day.  The reason for this day is to raise awareness of the pressing global impact that being overweight/obese has on people, communities, countries, and the world.  According to the World Obesity Website, 1.9 billion will be obese by 2035, with an economic impact of 4.32 trillion dollars (2025).  Sadly, there is an expected 100% increase in childhood obesity between 2020-2035 (WOB, 2025). 

Each year, World Obesity Day has a theme to highlight the cause. This year, the theme is "Changing Systems, Healthier Lives."  The idea is that rather than looking solely at the individual for the cause of accumulated weight, let's take a more macro view of this epidemic. This approach involves examining and addressing the various systems and structures in our societies that contribute to obesity, such as food production and marketing, urban planning, and healthcare systems, to help people move toward an ideal body weight. 

As nurses, we want to educate our patients about a healthy lifestyle, but we must also do it for ourselves.  We must be an example for our patients; in other words, we must practice what we preach.  However, nursing is a stressful job, and that can lead to unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as overeating. 

Overeating is just one of the unhealthy coping mechanisms that can lead to obesity among nurses.  In a systematic review by Sadali et al. (2023), obesity and overweight rates worldwide among nurses are 31%.  Countries with higher rates include the United States and Europe (Sadali, 2023). The authors' suggestions for improving this health issue include enhancing working conditions and environments to improve metabolic health (Sadali, 2023, p. 7935). This notion coincides with World Obesity Day's theme of looking at systems in our countries that increase the prevalence of obesity and what can be changed from within to decrease obesity rates.  Nursing is an occupation that is very stressful due to the nature of the work.  Stress on the job often leads to opting for a quick fix to relieve the tension, such as high-carbohydrate foods, smoking, or alcohol.  The demand of working various shifts leads to insufficient sleep, which impacts health.  Working with inadequate staff and high patient-to-staff ratios is another indicator that increases stress, leading to burnout and poor choices for coping daily on the job.  

What can Nurses Do to Improve Rates of Overweight and Obesity?

With the group and collective goal of improving obesity rates this year, nurses can organize to make positive changes in the work environment. The goal is to decrease stress, which can lead to better health choices. Remember, even small changes can significantly improve health and well-being. 

Ideas to Implement Positive Change in the Workplace in Support of World Obesity

1. Create a Nursing Forum to address Health and Well-Being:  Sometimes, small steps can create significant changes.  It may start as a unit program where you work together to address challenges you face that lead to unhealthy food and lifestyle habits.  Perhaps address this at your next staff meeting.  Bring an idea to the meeting to address obesity and how your unit can start to make changes.  Maybe you have a fruit basket in the lounge that staff easily access rather than reaching for the cookies, candy, or chips.  Another idea is to reach out to employee health and see what initiatives nursing can create to improve the overall metabolic health of nurses throughout the hospital.

2. Take a poll of nursing staff to find out what is a key contributor to the stress level at work:  Talk to your nurse manager and ask if you can create a questionnaire and find out from staff what is contributing to unhealthy lifestyle choices that stem from the job.  From the responses, work as a unit to create solutions to these problems.  Document progress and share your results with the administration.  You may discover your solutions can work for other units or the hospital.

3. Start a unit Walking or Workout Group: This can be a fun way to get some exercise and help motivate each other to show up. Rather than complaining about work, though, when you are together, talk about ways to address the problems the unit is facing and strategies to implement the change. 

4. Cafeteria:  Look at the food offered in the cafeteria.  Is it healthy?  If you have an idea to improve the menu, ask to talk to the cafeteria manager.  Always bring suggestions for improvement.

5. Community: Can the nurses in the hospital find a way to bring obesity to the spotlight in the community?  Perhaps working with the hospital's PR department to spread the word on childhood obesity. This is an opportunity to empower the community with knowledge and strategies for healthy living.  Maybe create a program to educate children in the local schools to assist children in learning healthy strategies for living and eating.

Change can take time and be painful and uncomfortable.  However, decreasing the prevalence of obesity and overweight can dramatically improve health outcomes.  As caregivers, we must take care of ourselves first to care for those around us.  By obtaining one's ideal body weight, you decrease your risk of devastating health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, to name a few.  You deserve to live your best life.  Seek help if you need it to reach your best weight, just as you would if you seek medical treatment for hypertension or a thyroid condition.  Being overweight or obese is no different.  The journey to your ideal weight may not be easy but will hopefully bring you peace, contentment, and better health.

To find out more about World Obesity Day, go to www.worldobesityday.org.  Here, you will find many resources to educate yourself, your family, coworkers, and your employer on ways to fight this pandemic and make strides to improve the health of those you love and care for daily.

References

Sadali, U. B., Kamal, K. K. B. N., Park, J., Chew, H. S. J., & Devi, M. K. (2023). The global prevalence of overweight and obesity among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analyses. Journal of clinical nursing, 32(23-24), 7934–7955. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16861

World Obesity Day. (2025). About wod. Retrieved from https://www.worldobesityday.org/