Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters

Background: Obesity among firefighters can present a hindrance to operational effectiveness. In North American studies 80% of US firefighters are overweight or obese. No studies have explored obesity among firefighters in the UK and it is unclear whether obesity is a problem among UK firefighters. A...

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Main Authors:	Fehmidah Munir, Stacy Clemes, Jonathan Houdmont, Raymond Randall
Format:	Default Article
Published:	2012
Subjects:	Other health sciences not elsewhere classified Emergency responders Firefighters Obesity BMI Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/2134/15207
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id	rr-article-9503090
record_format	Figshare
spelling	rr-article-95030902012-01-01T00:00:00Z Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters Fehmidah Munir (1255383) Stacy Clemes (1256949) Jonathan Houdmont (7197614) Raymond Randall (1248747) Other health sciences not elsewhere classified Emergency responders Firefighters Obesity BMI Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified Background: Obesity among firefighters can present a hindrance to operational effectiveness. In North American studies 80% of US firefighters are overweight or obese. No studies have explored obesity among firefighters in the UK and it is unclear whether obesity is a problem among UK firefighters. Aims: To establish the prevalence of obesity among a large sample of firefighters in the UK and to explore changes in body mass index (BMI) over a three year period. Methods: The BMI and body composition of 735 male firefighters from a UK county Fire and rescue service was assessed in 2008 and 2011. Results: In 2008, 65% of the firefighters were either overweight (54%) or obese (11%). In 2011, slightly fewer firefighters were overweight (53%) however the proportion classified as obese increased significantly to 13%.Those classified as normal-weight in 2008 were more likely to have gained weight by 2011 in comparison to those categorised as obese at baseline. A lower proportion of firefigthers were classified as high-risk for obesity based on their waist circumference in 2008. Conclusion: The proportion of firefighters who are either overweight or obese is lower in this UK sample than found in US studies. Nevertheless, the proportion of UK firefighters classed as overweight was higher than that found in the general population samples from England. Given the negative implications of obesity for performance, there is a need for further investment in theory-based sector-specific health promotion research and practice. 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/15207 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Overweight_and_obesity_in_UK_firefighters/9503090 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
institution	Loughborough University
collection	Figshare
topic	Other health sciences not elsewhere classified Emergency responders Firefighters Obesity BMI Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
spellingShingle	Other health sciences not elsewhere classified Emergency responders Firefighters Obesity BMI Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified Fehmidah Munir Stacy Clemes Jonathan Houdmont Raymond Randall Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters
description	Background: Obesity among firefighters can present a hindrance to operational effectiveness. In North American studies 80% of US firefighters are overweight or obese. No studies have explored obesity among firefighters in the UK and it is unclear whether obesity is a problem among UK firefighters. Aims: To establish the prevalence of obesity among a large sample of firefighters in the UK and to explore changes in body mass index (BMI) over a three year period. Methods: The BMI and body composition of 735 male firefighters from a UK county Fire and rescue service was assessed in 2008 and 2011. Results: In 2008, 65% of the firefighters were either overweight (54%) or obese (11%). In 2011, slightly fewer firefighters were overweight (53%) however the proportion classified as obese increased significantly to 13%.Those classified as normal-weight in 2008 were more likely to have gained weight by 2011 in comparison to those categorised as obese at baseline. A lower proportion of firefigthers were classified as high-risk for obesity based on their waist circumference in 2008. Conclusion: The proportion of firefighters who are either overweight or obese is lower in this UK sample than found in US studies. Nevertheless, the proportion of UK firefighters classed as overweight was higher than that found in the general population samples from England. Given the negative implications of obesity for performance, there is a need for further investment in theory-based sector-specific health promotion research and practice.
format	Default Article
author	Fehmidah Munir Stacy Clemes Jonathan Houdmont Raymond Randall
author_facet	Fehmidah Munir Stacy Clemes Jonathan Houdmont Raymond Randall
author_sort	Fehmidah Munir (1255383)
title	Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters
title_short	Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters
title_full	Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters
title_fullStr	Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters
title_full_unstemmed	Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters
title_sort	overweight and obesity in uk firefighters
publishDate	2012
url	https://hdl.handle.net/2134/15207
_version_	1797105017877954560

Overweight and obesity in UK firefighters

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