Prevalence of Obesity by Occupation Among US Workers

Abstract

Objective To estimate the prevalence of obesity and the change of prevalence of obesity between 2004–2007 and 2008–20011 by occupation among US workers in the National Health Interview Survey. Methods Self-reported weight and height were collected and used to assess obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2). Gender-, race/ethnicity-, and occupation-specific prevalence of obesity were calculated. Results Prevalence of obesity steadily increased from 2004 through 2008 across gender and race/ethnicity but leveled off from 2008 through 2011. Non-Hispanic black female workers in health care support (49.2%) and transportation/material moving (46.6%) had the highest prevalence of obesity. Prevalence of obesity in relatively low-obesity (white-collar) occupations significantly increased between 2004–2007 and 2008–2011, whereas it did not change significantly in high-obesity (blue-collar) occupations. Conclusions Workers in all occupational categories are appropriate targets for health promotion and intervention programs to reduce obesity.

Uso de medidas autorreferidas de peso e altura na determinação do estado nutricional de trabalhadores

“…Conhecendo as dificuldades de se obterem as informações de peso e altura aferidos de toda a população, o uso de medidas autorreferidas é um instrumento fácil e de baixo custo, e vem http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1678-98652016000300005 sendo empregado em diversos inquéritos nacionais de saúde no mundo para avaliar o estado nutricional de populações [6][7][8][9] . Essas informações podem ser obtidas através de entrevistas pessoais ou por telefone e por questionários autoaplicáveis enviados pelo correio 10 .…”

Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease Among University Employees

“…They found that white collar workers had a significant increase in obesity rates between 2004-2007 and 2008-2011 while blue collar workers did not 49 . Since obesity is becoming more prevalent in white collar workers as compared to blue collar workers, it is important to examine cardiovascular disease risk even more in white collar workers to develop plans to help them reduce this risk.…”

“…They found that 16.8% of male employees measured who were employed as postsecondary educators were classified as obese 49 . This is 5% less than what we saw in our sample, however this is most likely due to small sample size.…”

“…This is also likely due to our small sample size limitation. In Gu et al, there were 465 males and 470 females 49 . In our study, there were 32 females and 14 males.…”

“…Many ancillary studies 5,6,49 have chosen to use Body Mass Index (BMI) as a measure of body composition because it is significantly easier to measure, requires less skilled personnel, and less equipment than measuring body fat percentage.…”