Excessive pressure at workplace makes women prone to obesity: Study

London: According to a recent study, women who face heavy psychological pressures at work are more likely to become obese.

The study, published in the journal International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, included data from over 3,872 participants in Sweden.

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As per the study, high job demands played a part in women's weight gain, while for men there was no association between high demands and weight gain. Work place ethics too, affect the mental health of women. High demand jobs pose serious threat to women at work place who in turn tend to gain weight due to excessive stress.

The participants in the study were selected from age group of 30 to 50 or from 40 to 60. They were investigated on three occasions over a 20-year period with respect to such variables as body weight and demands and control at work.

To estimate the level of job demands, the respondents were asked about their work pace, psychological pressures, whether there was enough time for their duties and how often the demands made were contradictory.

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The results show that the respondents with a low degree of control in their work more frequently gained considerable weight, defined as a weight gain of 10 per cent or more, in the course of the study.

This applied to women and men alike. On the other hand, long-term exposure to high job demands played a part only for women.

In just over half of the women who had been subjected to high demands, a major increase in weight took place over the 20 years.

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This gain in weight was some 20 per cent higher than in women subject to low job demands. "When it came to the level of demands at work, only the women were affected," said the research.

Having had or not had an academic education does not explain the associations in the study. Neither do quality of diet or other lifestyle factors.

According to researchers of this study, identification of groups who are susceptible to stress and efforts to reduce work-related pressure would enable to not only curb weight gain but also in the incidence of ill health, including cardiac ailments and diabetes.