JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Obesity is currently a worldwide health crisis. Nurses are integral members of the primary healthcare team, and have an important role in managing obesity and administering physical activity (PA) for patients. However, research shows that nurses tend to be overweight/obese, have poor metabolic health, and do not meet PA recommendations. This is problematic, because PA is linked to both physiological and psychological well-being, and may also influence how nurses council their patients. Nursing students are the next generation of nurses, however there is limited research examining PA (among other lifestyle factors), and metabolic health in nursing students.

Objective:

The goal of this research is to examine multiple lifestyle factors (including PA, nutrition, sleep, and stress) and determine whether these factors are associated with metabolic health in full-time undergraduate nursing students.

Methods:

An estimated 320 nursing students (>= 18 years old) will be assessed for their metabolic health. Metabolic status will be determined by measuring: body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), percent body fat (skinfold measures; Fitsystems, Calgary, Alberta), resting blood pressure (automated oscillatory; Omron Healthcare Inc.), and fasting blood glucose (via glucometer). Lifestyle factors will be measured, including PA and sleep (via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and 7-day accelerometry; ActiGraph, GT3X-BT, Pensacola FL), nutrition (3-day diet log; Nutritionist Pro software, Axxya, Redmond WA, USA), and stress (via the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, heart rate variability assessments, and salivary cortisol; ELISA, Eagle Biosciences, Amherst, NH, USA). The association between metabolic status and PA, sleep quantity/quality, nutrition, and stress will be examined by linear regression analyses. Differences by year of study in metabolic health status, PA, sleep, nutrition, and stress will be examined by one way ANOVAs. To determine the ability of PA, sleep, nutrition and stress to discriminate prevalent overweight/obesity, or poor metabolic status, logistic regression and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves will be constructed. Statistical analyses will be performed in STATA (16.1, Texas).

Results:

Based on pilot data, we believe senior nursing students will have worse metabolic health (higher BMI/WHR, increased percent body fat, elevated blood pressure, and increased fasting blood glucose) compared to first year students. It is hypothesized that poor PA participation, poor sleep quantity and quality, increased food intake, poor nutrition, and increased stress will be associated with worse metabolic health in full-time nursing students.

Conclusions:

The current study will be the first published research to examine the relationship of lifestyle choices and metabolic status in nursing students attending a Canadian institution. More importantly, the results of this study will support the development of an informed intervention that will target the identified lifestyle factor(s), improving the physiological and mental health and well-being of nursing students.