Dive Brief:
- A new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine concludes that health care workers have higher obesity rates than almost any other industry's workers.
- Researchers compared data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey to self-reported employee height and weight information and found that health care professionals had a higher than average obesity rate of nearly 35%, even when controlling for factors like age, smoking habits and gender.
- The obesity rates were not evenly distributed throughout the industry. Those in the "health services" category had a much higher obesity rates than those in "health diagnosing" jobs, which pay much better.
Dive Insight:
It seems that the same phenomenon impacts low-income health workers as low-income workers in other fields. As researchers note, those with higher income can afford healthier food, gym memberships and other options which help prevent obesity, regardless of what profession they work in. However, like other employers, health care organizations are starting to take a look at this problem to see if they can reduce workforce obesity rates.