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Objective: To examine a possible relationship between obesity, job stress, and eating behavior in male Japanese workers. Method: A questionnaire on life style, job stress, and eating behavior was conducted with 208 male workers aged 19-60 years (33.7712.3 years) in a manufacturing industry in Japan. Height and weight were measured in an annual health examination. The relation between obesity, job stress, and eating behavior were analyzed between 141 nonobese subjects (BMI p24.9 kg/ m 2 ) and 67 obese subjects (BMI X25.0 kg/m 2 ). Results: Obesity was associated with psychological stress responses of tension/anxiety, especially tension. Tension/anxiety was also related to job demands positively and job latitudes negatively. The eating behaviors of subjects with tension/anxiety resembled those of the obese subjects. Conclusions: The present study suggests that obese male Japanese workers tend to be in a stressful state from high job demands and low job latitudes in the workplace. Such stressful conditions may affect eating behaviors to eat much and contribute to obesity. Stress management might be necessary in the workplace for the prevention of obesity among male Japanese workers.

Sleep deprivation has been shown to be associated with an increase in inflammatory makers such as interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between subjective poor sleep and white blood cell (WBC) count, an inflammatory marker. The subjects were 208 male Japanese workers in a synthetic fibermanufacturing plant, who responded to a cross-sectional survey of a questionnaire on basic attributes, life style, and sleep. All male workers in the plant took an annual health checkup. WBC count was also examined in the checkup. The WBC count was greater in shift workers than in daytime workers. Shift workers complained of poor sleep more frequently, though their sleeping hours were longer. Multiple regression analysis showed that poor sleep as well as smoking habit, BMI and age were independent factors for an increase in WBC count, while sleeping hours and work pattern (shift work) were not significant factors. The present finding that poor sleep was associated with higher WBC count in male workers might suggest the importance of quality of sleep, particularly among shift workers.

The aim of the present study was to examine the relation of insomnia with job stress factors, stress response, and social support. A self-completed questionnaire survey was conducted in 212 male Japanese workers at a synthetic fiber plant. With regard to insomnia, subjects were asked the first 5 of the 8 questions on the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Job stress factors, stress response and social support were assessed using the Job Stress Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses showed that psychological job stress factors of poor appropriateness of work and high qualitative workload were associated with insomnia. The psychological stress response of depression and physical stress responses were also related with insomnia. Depression was also related to appropriateness of work. The present results showed that insomnia was closely related with the psychological job stress factor of appropriateness of work and the psychological response of depression. These mutual relationships between insomnia and poor mental health need be investigated further.

A new finding was that the risk for onset of depression increased with the severity of insomnia.

Relationships between work-related psychological and physical stress responses and counts of white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophils, and lymphocytes were investigated in 101 daytime workers. Counts of WBCs and neutrophils were positively associated with smoking and inversely correlated with high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol levels. Additionally, general fatigue score as measured by the profile of mood state was positively correlated with WBC and neutrophil counts whereas lymphocyte counts was not significantly associated with fatigue score. Multiple regression analysis showed that WBC count was significantly related to general fatigue, age, and HDL-cholesterol levels. Neutrophil count was significantly related to HDL-cholesterol levels and fatigue score. Among various psychological stress response variables, general fatigue may be a key determinant of low-grade inflammation as represented by increases of WBC and neutrophil counts.

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The aim of this study was to examine the relation between sleep difficulty and white blood cell (WBC) count in shift workers. This was a cross-sectional study in male Japanese workers at a synthetic fiber plant. The subjects were 212 male workers who underwent an annual workplace health checkup in April 2007. For the WBC count the blood test value from the health checkup was used. With regard to insomnia, subjects were asked the first 5 of the 8 questions on the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). An increased WBC count was associated with total AIS score (p<0.05) and work pattern (shift work) (p<0.05) in addition to smoking (p<0.001), fasting blood sugar (p<0.01), and BMI (p<0.05). In shift workers, the WBC count was related with total AIS score (p<0.05) and those with higher total AIS score tended to have an increased WBC count (p<0.01). In daytime workers, the count was not associated with AIS score. The present results have shown that shift workers with sleeping problems are more likely to have higher WBC counts, which might suggest low-grade inflammatory changes in those workers. Quality sleep may be necessary for shift workers in particular.