An important role of the nurse is to educate individuals and their communities in the promotion of health and prevention of disease. An uncertainty exists as to whether nurses can be successful in this education process if they are not literal role models of health. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between the weight of a nurse and public confidence in the nurse's ability to educate in lifestyle changes of diet and exercise.

One hundred research participants were identified on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. Each was asked to answer an 8-item demographic questionnaire and rate their confidence level of receiving diet and exercise instruction from images of 10 nurses. Ninety-eight respondents returned completed surveys. Analysis revealed that participants had less confidence in education provided by obese nurses than that provided by lean nurses.