This narrative review summarized findings from previous reviews and the most recently published studies, regarding the following: (1) the association between two occupational risk factors—shift work and sedentary work—and obesity, (2) the effects of obesity on workplace productivity and (3) the effectiveness of workplace interventions aimed at preventing or reducing obesity. Despite some inconsistencies in findings, there is convincing evidence that shift work increases the risk of obesity, while most studies did not show a significant association between sedentary work and obesity. Overweight and obesity were found to be associated with absenteeism, disability pension and overall work impairment, whilst evidence of their relationship with presenteeism, unemployment and early retirement was not consistent. Due to the vast heterogeneity in the types of workplace-based interventions to prevent or treat obesity, no sound conclusions can as yet be drawn about their overall effectiveness and best practice recommendations for their implementation.
Full text can be found at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13679-016-0227-6
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Friday, December 11, 2015
Podcast
Most people would probably benefit from increasing the amount of physical activity that they do and one way to achieve this might be reducing the amount of time we spend sitting down at work. A new Cochrane Review from January 2015 looks at interventions that might help with this. Hear more about it from me at..
http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts/10.1002/14651858.CD010912.pub2
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Workplace interventions for reducing sitting at work
Most jobs today are sedentary, requiring people to sit for long periods of time, even though there is growing interest in being more active. This is getting worse as advances in technology and increased peer pressure mean that many people do not leave their desk, even for communicating with their colleagues. Although doing the recommended levels of physical activity of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week and resistance exercises twice a week outside of work can help, this is not enough. There is still an increased risk of premature mortality, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes if one sits for prolonged periods. A Cochrane review titled “workplace interventions to reduce sitting at work” looked at ways to make it easier for people to sit less at work but, when we think of an average office, we can see how reducing sitting is a huge challenge. It might need changes to the architecture, new furniture, or changes in the office routine, which can be expensive and disruptive. This makes it even more important to find out that whether interventions that aim to reduce sitting, such as desks at which you can work while standing, actually do reduce sitting. The authors found some evidence that it might be possible to make a difference.
Full text can be found at:
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