Why are nurses so overweight?

[sailor]

I have not been inside a hospital in many years so my anecdotal evidence comes from watching pr0n and I can say with confidence that I do not remember seeing a single nurse who was chubby. In fact I was surprised that they were all quite young and it made me think how they could get the necessary education at such an early age.

Kidding aside, we would have to establish as a fact that nurses are chubbier than the general population in their age bracket and similar relevant circumstances. Because it makes no sense to compare people of different ages or whi differ in other relevant factors.

[astro]

I’ve noticed the reception area female nurses do tend to be somewhat heavy. My proposed reasons are

1: Nurses in general tend to come from lower middle class socio-economic cohorts and this job is an upwardly mobile path for them. They have poor eating habits due to background.

2: Slender women tend to self select out of nursing because they are not up to the strength requirements. A nurse needs to be physically robust.

3: Unless it’s a huge hospital they work in nurses are not going to be burning any moire calories than a typical office worker

4:If your co-workers are fat there is little peer pressure to lose weight

[Fantome]

@astro

1: Nurses in general tend to come from lower middle class socio-economic cohorts and this job is an upwardly mobile path for them. They have poor eating habits due to background.

Cite?

2: Slender women tend to self select out of nursing because they are not up to the strength requirements. A nurse needs to be physically robust.

There are no strength requirements and nurses don’t need to be “physically robust.”

3: Unless it’s a huge hospital they work in nurses are not going to be burning any moire calories than a typical office worker

But they need to be strong and physically robust? Even nurses that don’t work in huge hospitals do a lot more moving then average office workers. Nurses are almost always moving. Office workers not so much.

4:If your co-workers are fat there is little peer pressure to lose weight

That doesn’t explain why their co-workers are fat or why these female co-workers living in the thin obsessed U.S. somehow are under no societal pressure to be thin.

[Jackmannii]

I am skeptical of the premise that nurses are more overweight than workers in other fields.

If this was true, a contributing factor would be the potluck phenomenon. Our lab staff for instance are constantly having these events or just bring in stuff they’ve baked. All you need are a couple of enthusiastic cooks on the nursing staff who like to share, and the temptation is there. And there’s “it’s Greta’s birthday and we’e ordering out from the Chinese food place”. Also, while I don’t know if this also applies to nurses, unused food from conferences gets brought into the docs’ lounge at our hospital, and this can involve a lot of cake and other non-healthfood items. It takes a stern sort to ignore a heap of brownies that magically materializes when you’re just going in for coffee.

[Brown_Eyed_Girl]

@astro

2: Slender women tend to self select out of nursing because they are not up to the strength requirements. A nurse needs to be physically robust.

Huh? Are you saying obese women are strong whereas slender women are not? What kind of garbage science do you base that on? Got news for you: adipose tissue does not assist in strength requirements.

What do you mean exactly by “physically robust” anyway?

[badbadrubberpiggy]

@Brown_Eyed_Girl

Huh? Are you saying obese women are strong whereas slender women are not? What kind of garbage science do you base that on? Got news for you: adipose tissue does not assist in strength requirements.

What do you mean exactly by “physically robust” anyway?

Yeah, I question this too. Obese does not equal strong, any more than being at a healthy weight means you’re weak.

[muldoonthief]

I’m going to question the premise too. My wife’s a nurse, and we see her coworkers socially on a fairly regular basis, and they don’t strike me as outside the norm for women of their age. One thing I have noticed though is that scrubs can make someone who is slightly overweight, or even just the high end of a healthy weight, look heavier than they really are. When all you’ve got is that drawstring to hold your pants up, it’s not a flattering look on your hips, thighs, & butt. So a woman who looks overweight in scrubs could look perfectly fine in regular clothes they’ve purchased for their body type & size.

[ralph124c]

Unrelated coment, but when I was in the hospital last (about 7 years ago), it seemed to me that the meals I was served were enormous! The portions were about 2X what I was used to eating…I could not get over it.

[Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker]

Just an anecdote:
I recently visited a patient at a local hospital to see the new addition to their family. As I passed by a nurse/reception station on my way to the room, I recognized a nurse that I had known years ago as she had waitressed at a restaurant that I frequented (and still do). She had indeed put on a good bit of weight since I had last seen her (2003), possibly because of some of the reasons already postulated.

[Surreal]

Based on my observations, I’d say I have to agree with elmwood’s premise. The effect is especially large when you note the RNs are considered to be of high socioeconomic status, with salaries in the $70-100K range. Women that earn that much are rarely overweight, but nurses frequently are.

It isn’t just nurses that tend to be overweight, it’s women in any of the “caring” professions (childcare, healthcare, animal care, etc.). I believe it to be a result of their psychological makeup.

[Zsofia]

@muldoonthief

I’m going to question the premise too. My wife’s a nurse, and we see her coworkers socially on a fairly regular basis, and they don’t strike me as outside the norm for women of their age. One thing I have noticed though is that scrubs can make someone who is slightly overweight, or even just the high end of a healthy weight, look heavier than they really are. When all you’ve got is that drawstring to hold your pants up, it’s not a flattering look on your hips, thighs, & butt. So a woman who looks overweight in scrubs could look perfectly fine in regular clothes they’ve purchased for their body type & size.

An excellent point - the scrubs on TV shows are tailored to diminish that effect on the actors.

[hellpaso]

I’m an RN and have never been overweight, and neither have most of my peers. I think the fact that the OP is posting from Texas may have something to do with their perception, as previously cited. However, I also think some of the responses may be including the appearance of ancillary personnel–not just professional nurses–in their posts. Nurses are university educated in nutrition as well as health. Now, excuse me while I go have a sugar coke and a cigarette.

[Kevbo]

It might be the “uniforms”.

Even though they don’t wear whites much any more, they mostly don’t wear “slimming” black either. Scrubs are pretty much not flattering to anyone.

[pope_hentai]

@Chief_Pedant

I
Average age of nurses is pushing 50. … … I’m reflecting on the nurses in my ED as I type this…

heh heh… ED…

[Fuzzy_Dunlop]

@Sampiro

Because they’re black women.

Wait, sorry, wrong thread.

Hilarious

[outlierrn]

@Chief_Pedant

I spent the last 30 years as a physician in hospital-based medicine, so I’ve seen a fair number of nurses. I actually have no idea if they are fatter than the general public, who on some days appear to be holding their own as hearty eaters.

Average age of nurses is pushing 50. For a given fat nurse, the reasons are probably similar to any fat person: poor eating and poor genes. I’m reflecting on the nurses in my ED as I type this…a few chunkers, but by and large fairly attractive and for the most part way under the average age. Lucky, I guess.

I dunno, I was thinking the same thing about my ER

[quote=“DSYoungEsq, post:4, topic:493327”]

Having said that, one could postulate the following: hospital jobs for nurses are low on the totem pole of desirability, and are thus filled by nurses who are less likely to be able to get “better” jobs, which may correlate with appearance issues like obesity.

[QUOTE]

That’s some pretty wild postulating IMHO; hospital nursing runs about 60% of nurse jobs IIRC, and most of the challenging ones. No offense those in administration, legal consulting, union negotiating and sales, but the most challenging bedside care is inpatient.

[NurseCarmen]

Male computer geeks with Nurse like nick names aren’t overweight.

[Ca3799]

My nursing unit has it’s share of overweight nurses and I’m now battling some weight gain for the fiirst time, but…

Our cafeteria serves pretty crappy food, so I usually try to pack my lunch. I am really surprised at how bad (both healthwise and quality wise) our food is. We are getting a salad and sandwich bar soon, and I can’t wait. Right now, all we get to choose from for lunch and dinner is two entrees, 4 sides, a dessert, and a soup. Triple meal buyers (B, L, D) tend to buy one entree for lunch and the other for dinner, no matter what is served, just for variety. Breakfast is the same 8 items every day.

We work 12 hour shifts so those who don’t pack a lunch may eat 2 or 3 bad meals in a day. Recently, our unit director served us a breakfast meal of fried bean burritos and breakfast tacos. Ugh. They were awful, but free, fast, and available.

We don’t get much time for lunch (30 minutes) and are often so busy we just tend to grab what is lying around. Usually that is not very healthy. We do eat a lot of frozen dinners.

Another thing that happens is that the (wonderful) patients and their families bring us things as thank-you gifts. They bring us pizza, cookies, cakes, and donuts most often. No one ever sends us a fruit plate. It’s all too easy to toss down a few cookies or pizza slices when you are rushed.

I’m actually afraid to go into the nurses lounge between mid November and late January.

I went in one day during the holiday season and found one box of donuts there already. Then some nursing students brought us two more boxes, then a patient’s family member brought us two more. Then someone brought us cookies, then a basket of chocolates, then an Italian Cream cake- all in 1 day! It can be very difficult to not partake in these gifts, particularly on a very busy day.

(One doc sends us grapefruit every year and one family sent every nurse on my unit a 20 pound bag of rice one year! )

Today, I walked 4.4 miles at work. This was an average-busy day.

[elmwood]

@hellpaso

I think the fact that the OP is posting from Texas may have something to do with their perception, as previously cited.

My mom was in two hospitals in Buffalo, New York. Not Texas. I just moved here.

[sugar_and_spice]

@elmwood

My mom was in two hospitals in Buffalo, New York. Not Texas. I just moved here.

That doesn’t help your argument much …