Introduction: Overweight and obesity has been emerging as one of the most common and preventable
nutritional problems worldwide. In 2016, 39% and 13% of the adult population worldwide was classified as
overweight and obese, respectively. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study at 12
selected health clinics in Perak, Malaysia, and we used multi-stage cluster random sampling to determine the
prevalence of overweight and obesity among the primary healthcare workers and the associate factors of
obesity indices. Each respondent was required to complete a self-administered questionnaire on their sociodemographic characteristics. In addition, we took anthropometric measurements, including height, weight,
BMI, waist circumference, and body fat percentage, of the participants. Results: We recruited 261 primary
healthcare workers. Overall, 49.9% of the healthcare workers were overweight or obese, 51.0% were at risk
of having abdominal obesity, and 79.6% had a high body fat percentages. Age and self-reported health status
were significantly associated with all the obesity indices. Educational level showed significant association
with BMI and waist circumference, while occupational status showed an association only with BMI. Older age
and professionals were predictors for high obesity indices. Conclusion: The prevalence of obesity among the
primary healthcare workers was higher than among the general population. An immediate intervention
programme is needed to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity among primary healthcare
workers.
Overweight and obesity has been emerging as one of the most common and preventable nutritional problems worldwide. In 2016, 39% and 13% of the adult population worldwide was classified as overweight and obese, respectively. Materials and Methods:We conducted a cross-sectional study at 12 selected health clinics in Perak, Malaysia, and we used multi-stage cluster random sampling to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the primary healthcare workers and the associate factors of obesity indices. Each respondent was required to complete a self-administered questionnaire on their socio-demographic characteristics. In addition, we took anthropometric measurements, including height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, and body fat percentage, of the participants. Results:We recruited 261 primary healthcare workers. Overall, 49.9% of the healthcare workers were overweight or obese, 51.0% were at risk of having abdominal obesity, and 79.6% had a high body fat percentages. Age and self-reported health status were significantly associated with all the obesity indices. Educational level showed significant association with BMI and waist circumference, while occupational status showed an association only with BMI. Older age and professionals were predictors for high obesity indices. Conclusion:The prevalence of obesity among the primary healthcare workers was higher than among the general population. An immediate intervention programme is needed to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity among primary healthcare workers.
Physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle have been linked to the occurrence of non-communicable diseases. This study's purpose was to determine physical activity levels and sedentary behaviours among primary healthcare workers in Perak, Malaysia, as well as associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted at 12 health clinics in Perak, Malaysia, to determine physical activity levels, sedentary behaviours and factors associated with physical inactivity among primary healthcare workers. Each respondent completed a self-administered questionnaire relating to socio-demographic characteristics, including anthropometric measurements such as body mass index, waist circumference and body fat percentage, and the English and Malay version of the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. A total of 261 primary healthcare workers participated in this study; 45.6% were classified as physically inactive, spending a median of five hours daily engaged in sedentary behaviours. In terms of metabolic equivalent min per week, male workers had significantly higher physical activity than females. Self-reported health status and longer sitting times were significantly associated with physical inactivity. Logistic regression showed that poor health status was 1.84 times less likely to be associated with physical activity (p = 0.036, Confidence Interval = 1.04-3.24). Due to the high prevalence of physical inactivity, action is needed to increase physical activity among healthcare workers.