Nutrition and physical activity level among university staff and the associated personal and environmental factors

The aim of this cross sectional study is to determine the level of nutrition, physical activity and the related factors among the staff of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University. The sample size was found to be 387 by assuming zα/2=1.96, prevalence= 50%, d= 5% and design effect=1.5. The study includes 348 staff who were selected by stratified random sampling method. Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) were administered to the participants, and hight, weight and waist circumference were measured. Student t test, ANOVA, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, chi-square, correlation analysis, logistic regression tests were used for statistical analysis. The response rate was %89.9. Necessary ethical and administrative approval was obtained. Of the staff, 63.5% were men and 64.7% were married. The mean age was 35.6±0.4 years and the staff have been working at the university on avarage 6.0±0.3 years. The prevalences of underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity were %1.1, 39.5%, 45.1% and 15.2% respectively. Of the staff, 41.1% were in normal, 29.0% were in increased and 29.9% were in substancially increased group regarding waist circumference (WC). Mean MET value was 1499.8min/week. Of the participants, %13.2 were active, 48.3% were minimally active and 38.5% were inactive. Primary independent variables for increased combined overweight (BMI>25 and WC over normal measures for men and women) were male gender (OR=2.71, %95 CI=1.568-4.673), age (OR=1.08, %95 CI=1.041-1.120), being married (OR=2.29, %95 CI=1.295-4.062), having a fat relative (OR=1.74, %95 CI=1.046-2.885), practicing unhealthy diet (OR=2.54, %95 CI=1.421-4.531), skipping lunch (OR=1.88, %95 CI=1.029-3.451), not using stairs (OR=2.47, %95 CI=1.446-4.210). Primary independent variables for inactivity were being at age over 35 years (OR=2.88, %95 CI=1.756-4.714), having obesity (OR=2.48, %95 CI=1.302-4.715), being health worker (OR=2.93, %95 CI=1.724-4.965), not doing regular physical activity (OR=2.13, %95 CI=1.286-3.518) and not using exercise equipment at home (OR=2.30, %95 CI=1.052-5.015). In conlusion, the study has shown that the prevalence of overweight, obesity and inactivity are common among the university staff. Launching a workplace health promotion programme to improve the nutrition and physical activity level of the staff is recommended. Keywords: Obesity, waist circumference, IPAQ, MEDAS, university staff