Why are so many of us over weight?

Nurses General Nursing

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If we are supposed to be good role models when it comes to health, why is it that so many of us are overweight? I'm just a student, so I don't know much, but I want to know what everyone else thinks about this!! Is it because there is no time to exercise with 12 hours shifts, and no time to find healthy food because there are such short lunch breaks? These are what I am guessing, but I want to know from real nurses why all of y'all think so many of your co-workers are overweight. (I don't mean to offend anyone with this post!!) Just curious!! Thanks for any opinions you have.

I am a nursing student in my senior year. I am overweight, and I don't like it. Despite my size, I have a resting heart rate of 64 (thanks to daily power walks with my dog), I can sprint up stairs, and I often surprise people with my physical stamina. More than once, I have gotten the "wow, you're actually in good shape" compliment. Despite my good physical condition, I want it to be better. I want to look as lean as I feel. So, I have decided to make it a priority. I am not eating sugary foods anymore, and I am going to try to get these 30 pounds off (at my heaviest, I had 80 pounds to lose). I do think I will be a better patient advocate when I am thin, if only b/c I can say that I used to be overweight but I'm not anymore. It's not fair that my sister can eat 4,000 calories a day while sitting on the couch and weighs 125 pounds, but my "genetic gun" is loaded. I can complain about it or work out. I choose the latter.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Dialysis.
It's all simple math. Expend less than you take in, and you're going to put weight on.

Bad Genetics+Healthy Eating+Exercise=in shape person

Good Genetics+unhealthy eating+sedentary lifestyle=fat person.

Bad Genetics+unhealthy eating+sedentary lifestyle=episode of Montel as 1000 lb. person

I could eat carrots until I am orange, fat free cottage cheese until I can no longer look at it, I will still always be 30 lbs. over those charts and graphs, but I don't have a problem with that, it's the way I am, I can't change it!! End of story, genetics come into play no matter how in shape or how healthy you eat!

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I give it a day before this thread gets the padlock.

I just want to explain my posting a little bit better. I never meant it to be offensive (hence why I said that I did not want to offend anyone in the first place), and was just curious to know what I have to look forward to as a nurse as far as time to eat and exercise go. I also mentioned that I am just a student and was just curious, and my post had nothing to do with judging others for being overweight. This is a topic that one of our professors (who is, in fact, a nurse) had mentioned in class, and had told us to research. How do any of you know that I am not overweight myself? I hate to think that nurses are so quick to jump on someone's simple, honest question without first reading into the fact that I said that I was merely curious as to what everyone thought caused weight gain in nursing. To all of you who actually sent kind messages, YOU are the kind of nurses I want taking care of me, not all of these mean ones who tried to put me and my question down and accused me of judging the competency of a nurse who has gained weight. WOW!

Fat does not = unhealthy anymore than thin = healthy, especially in America where even average weight women are considered fat and unhealthy by the ridiculous standards of pop media.

Since you can't tell from looking at someone just what's muscle, what's fat, their cholesterol levels, strength, endurance etc. I think we should just each mind our own business and do our jobs.

And what about thin nurses who smoke like trains and eat junk food by the truckload? Thin nurses who drink? No one seems to consider there are much less healthy ways of life than being fat.

Fat does not equal unhealthy. Some people are just made that way. I'm fat. I take after my grandmother. But my BP is consistently 120/70. I don't smoke, drink or eat junk.

There is nothing new under the Sun. The less people know the stronger their opinions will be. I've stopped trying to figure them out.

Elevated Cortisol levels due to stress can cause weight gain as can hormonal imbalances due to rotating shifts, and poor nutritional choices due to " grabbing food on the fly and not being able to take a break and chose the salad bar.

Sounds like an interesting research topic. I got sidetracked looking up references, but I better go and research my own assignments now!

I found a survey noting the professions with the most obesity, but it doesn't posit any reasons for it.

It's called "Obesity in US Workers: The National Health Interview Survey, 1986 to 2002", by Caban, Lee and others, in the American Journal of Public Health, in 2005, vol 95(9), pp1614-1622.

Yes, nurses are among the occupations with the highest rates of obesity. I guess to test my theories you'd also want references for obesity in socio economic groups, as well as proportion of nurses who come from there, obesity among shift workers and the proportion of nurses who work shifts.

There probably isn't any research whether career choice is influenced by weight to test if people who are already overweight are more likely to choose nursing.

Argh! This is far more interesting than what I was intending to research on the internet! I'll be quiet now.

Good luck with your studies to become a nurse...

For the record.... I am NOT fat... I am fluffy.... LOL

I just want to explain my posting a little bit better. I never meant it to be offensive (hence why I said that I did not want to offend anyone in the first place), and was just curious to know what I have to look forward to as a nurse as far as time to eat and exercise go. I also mentioned that I am just a student and was just curious.!

I have to admit, I missed the "I'm not being offensive" caveat. The thing is, I find the offensive people always forget to mention "BTW, I'm being offensive here." It muddies the waters tremendously. Perhaps if you BOLD it next time - especially in cases when the reality of the situation directly contradicts your assertion.

Perhaps a tip on therapeutic communication might be: If you are curious if you are going to have enough time to exercise and make healthy meals, you should ask "Will I have time to exercise and make healthy meals?" -- rather than asking "Why are you so fat?".

P.S. In case you're wondering, fat people don't mind being called fat - after all, doesn't everyone enjoy having their weaknesses being pointed out to them? But they are enraged by the use of double exclamation marks (This fear of punctuation is a side effect of excess donut consumption). Double exclamation marks make fat people "mean" - as you've discovered.

P.P.S. I do not want to offend anyone.

To the student that brought up this topic. You need to know that this is a sore subject. Regardless of your words, your message had a certain tone about it that some people might have picked up. They are not necessarily "mean". If you want to be received better, choose your words very wisely. Lord knows I had to learn that lesson. I thought that people understood me. All I had to do was look at the reactions I got, an oh boy.

Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
Jess, I love your quote!

:balloons: Thanks :)

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Alright i might offend someone with this, but oh well.

Fat doesn't equal unhealthy. Someone can be fat and still be healthier and in better shape than someone who is not fat. Which is why this "image" crap doesn't wash the beans.

Give me a competant nurse, i don't care how big or little he, she or it is.

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