More than a quarter of NHS nurses are obese, with healthcare professionals more likely to be dangerously fat than those they care for, new research suggests.

Experts said the findings were “deeply worrying” and said patients would find it hard to stomach health advice from those whose weight was not healthy.

The research by London South Bank University and Edinburgh Napier University set out to assess obesity prevalence among healthcare professionals working in England.

It found that 25.1 per cent of nurses were obese, with a Body Mass Index (BMI) score of more than 30, compared with rates of 23.5 per cent in the general population.

Rates were even higher among unregistered care workers - such as care home workers and nursing assistants, with one in three obese.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Open, saw them examine data from more than 20,000 working-age adults who took part in the Health Survey for England between 2008 and 2012.

Participants were split into four groups: nurses, other healthcare professionals - including doctors, dentists and physiotherapists, unregistered care workers and people employed in non health-related jobs.

Researchers said the high rates of obesity were likely to be fuelling sickness levels in the NHS, with excess weight increasing the risk of musculoskeletal conditions and mental health conditions - some of the main causes of sickness absence in the health service.