As we have seen, the opinion is widely held that research done so far on the relationship between employment and associated physical and mental disorders is insufficient. In some jobs and with some people, there may be a tendency to escape work whenever possible, on the thinnest of excuses. From the bosses’ side, there may be a tendency to take advantage of people who need jobs by making them do dangerous tasks and then blaming them if injury occurs. It would come as no surprise to learn of lawsuits and strikes related to these issues.
The history of labor has encompassed very complicated and conflict-prone areas. Hard-fought decisions have been made about who is entitled to compensation for being absent from work; as well as who is allowed to show up and underperform (presenteeism), which in the long run costs the company even more.
Obesity is one of the conditions that can influence worker productivity. If our kids are overweight or obese, it is likely they will grow up to be obese adults, and this relationship to work will be just one of the many problems they will be challenged to deal with.
Wider information, please
Archived studies on the subject have been recognized as excellent, but too narrow in scope. One example (published in 2020) focused on almost 3,000 Japanese office workers, of whom 70% were male. According to the researchers,
Ten health risk factors for presenteeism have been identified, including health-related behaviours such as smoking, lack of physical activity, high blood pressure, perception of health and stress. Studies have reported that workers with arthritis, allergies, fatigue, depressive symptoms, hypoglycaemia, overweight and obesity were at higher risk of presenteeism.
In the same paper, mention was made of such impactful organizational policies as sick pay, attendance management, and permanency of employment.
What about profit and loss?
Recently, Investopedia.com looked back at a 2016 study from Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, which showed that…
[…] presenteeism associated with depression costs $5,524 per person annually in the U.S., five to 10 times higher on average than costs associated with absenteeism.
And of course, there is an extensive connection between depression and obesity. A 2015 article said,
Human obesity has serious consequences on health, including increased risks for depression, noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, cancer, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, hypertension, and heart disease. In addition, obesity has been found to reduce the quality of life for both men and women and markedly reduces life expectancy…
Those facts are quite depressing. Depression has been called the enemy of motivation, and one thing from which it can definitely demotivate a person is the desire to wake up, get spiffed up, and travel to a hated job.
And another thing…
It is possible that depression is being promoted for profit. This will not be gone into here, but the following quotation is worrisome in its implications, given all the ways through which obesity’s overall expense to society is likely to increase:
[M]any people who once called themselves alcoholics and drug addicts now say they are “dually diagnosed” with “major depressive disorder” and “bipolar disorder.”[…] Today, when alcoholics and drug addicts leave rehab, they are lifelong Pharma customers… For this lifelong, chronic and lucrative condition — resting on the now disproved chemical imbalance theory — they can remain on drugs like SSRIs for decades.
Whatever degree of legitimacy is represented there, it is bound to involve obesity in a large number of cases, and to be inimical to good employment relationships. Closer to home is a 2020 report from Sweden titled “Childhood obesity linked to higher risk of anxiety, depression and premature death.” Among other statements, we find:
Children with obesity have a three times higher risk of mortality in early adulthood compared with children in the general population and are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.
When these children grow up and become employed, their tendencies toward impaired physical health and depression are certain to impact their effectiveness at work, which in turn raises the employers’ costs to a greater or lesser extent in every business and in government jobs too, with the result that all these costs are passed on to customers and also eventually to every other facet of society.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Presenteeism among workers: health-related factors, work-related factors and health literacy,” Occupational Medicine, November 2020
Source: “Presenteeism: What It Is and How It Works,” Investopedia.com, 01/06/25
Source: “Obesity and Presenteeism: The Impact of Body Mass Index on Workplace Productivity,” Academia.edu, 2015
Source: “Drugmakers Continue to Profiteer on ‘Free’ Mental Health Programs,” Academia.edu, 11/04/24
Source: “Childhood obesity linked to higher risk of anxiety, depression and premature death,” News.ki.se, 03/18/20
Image by KarlToon/Pixabay
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