Overweight/Obesity and Associated Factors in Healthcare and Non-Healthcare Workers in an Ecuadorian Hospital: a cross-sectional study
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Copyright (c) 2026 Walter Morquecho Rebolledo, Dolores Rodríguez, Luís Noles, Miguel Zapata, Héctor Cuzme, Juan Roca, Camila Manrique, Ana Espinoza
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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https://doi.org/10.33821/847Keywords:
prevalence, overweight, obesity, healthcare workers, non-healthcare workersAbstract
Introduction: Overweight and obesity constitute a major public health problem and are closely associated with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Factors related to the hospital work environment, age, sex, central adiposity, and vitamin D status may influence the risk of excess weight; however, evidence among healthcare and administrative personnel in oncology hospitals in middle-income countries remains limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated factors among workers in an Ecuadorian oncology hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in 2023 at a hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The study included eligible healthcare and non-healthcare workers from SOLCA (Sociedad de Lucha Contra el Cáncer), who were invited to participate after meeting exclusion criteria, with voluntary participation and complete data for the primary variables. Anthropometric and body composition measurements were obtained, and clinical and sociodemographic data were collected using a questionnaire adapted from the World Health Organization (WHO). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed, including chi-square and Student’s t-tests, binary logistic regression, multiple linear regression, and Poisson regression with robust variance (main analysis). The study was approved by an ethics committee and followed the STROBE guidelines. Results: 653 workers were included (33.7% men), with a median age of 32 (28-39) years old. The prevalence of being overweight and obesity was 74.9%. No significant differences in BMI were observed by job type; however, administrative personnel showed greater waist circumference and visceral fat level (p = 0.01). Age and sex were independently associated with overweight/obesity and level of visceral fat. Elevated glycated hemoglobin and lower vitamin D were associated with greater levels of visceral fat. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity are highly prevalent among hospital workers, especially among men and older workers. Targeted institutional interventions are needed to promote healthy lifestyles, as well as longitudinal studies to identify the causes of low vitamin D levels.
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