Study on Body Mass Index, waist circumference and waist to height ratio of nursing officers working at Teaching Hospital, Jaffna

摘要

Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference andwaist-to-height ratio are simple tools to assess obesity,and obesity related, metabolic and cardio vascular diseaserisk status [1]. The aim of this study was to find theprevalence of overweight and obesity among the nursingofficers working at Teaching Hospital, Jaffna. As theTeaching Hospital, Jaffna has 1500 nursing officer cadresand only 396 cadres are filled, it was expected that theworking environment and pattern of duty may interferewith their regular eating habits, sleeping pattern andphysical exercise and lead to alteration in BMI, waistcircumference and waist-to-height ratio of the nursingofficers. An institutional based cross-sectional descriptivestudy was carried out during February 2013. Ethicsapproval was obtained from the Ethical Review Committeeof the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna. Bodyweight was measured using an electronic weighing scale(Seca), height was measured using a stadiometer (Seca)and waist circumference was measured using a nonstretchable measuring tape following standard procedure[2, 3].