Pain is an obesity issue, because “musculoskeletal or joint-related pain in the feet, knees, ankles, and back” can make certain maneuvers difficult or impossible. Obese people often cannot move very well because of arthritis, and, of course, the relative lack of mobility leads to increased obesity. Carpal tunnel syndrome also shows up more often among heavier workers.
It might seem that a very obese person would be more difficult to knock over, but other factors are involved. The authors suggest that, in heavy individuals, balance and coordination are compromised. Obesity is also connected with sleep apnea and heart disease, both of which cause shortness of breath and general weakness, two definite drawbacks in a work situation.
According to an Australian study of long-term health conditions and obesity released in 2020, the mechanisms of the phenomenon are still obscure to the point where “little is known.” That paper’s conclusion “implies that interventions to improve workers’ health and well-being will reduce the risk of presenteeism at work,” an observation that one reviewer with an attitude dryly states “does not actually qualify as helpful.”
A 2018 study, using data compiled around 10 years earlier, compared various occupations in terms of how, and how much, productivity is affected by weight. Not surprisingly, obesity had the most profound impact in the physically demanding field of construction. Arts and hospitality was the next most affected category, which seems like an odd pairing since the arts can include extremely strenuous physical activity like performative dance, while hospitality could encompass standing behind a counter giving out room keys in a hotel.
Perhaps in this context, hospitality only includes the personnel who clean the premises, change the bedsheets, and so forth. A surprising number of jobs might turn out to include repetitive motions, awkward body positioning, and other challenging requirements.
At any rate, the conclusion there was that “Obesity differentially impacted productivity and costs, depending upon occupation,” which could not have come as much of a surprise to anyone. Between 2004 and 2011, all American industries saw weight increases in their average workers. This much was definitely stated:
When examined by occupational group, the highest age-standardized obesity prevalence was found for US adults working in the Motor Vehicle Operator occupational category (39.2%), with the lowest prevalence for those working in the Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioner (15.4%) category.
These facts should also not be startling, because the drivers of trucks and buses are perpetually seated, while employees in the health field have a relatively high awareness level of the dangers of obesity. An interesting insight emerged from a large study in the Netherlands, which…
[…] reported that obesity was predictive of developing musculoskeletal symptoms, especially among workers whose jobs had low (vs high) physical workloads… Yet, the researchers acknowledged that their findings could alternatively be explained by individuals with musculoskeletal symptoms tending to self-select into occupations with fewer physical job demands.
In the field of manufacturing, when physically demanding tasks are involved, excess weight definitely impairs productivity, especially in terms of needing “additional time to complete physically demanding tasks.” In the realm of office workers, management and professional occupations tended to see higher costs “attributable to obesity-related absenteeism across a number of primarily office-based positions.”
Impairments in productivity and higher medical expenditures tend to characterize obese individuals with cardiometabolic risk factors like hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension. During the time period encompassed by that study, it was found that almost two-thirds of the expenses incurred by businesses were attributable to morbidly obese employees.
The authors noted that such studies tend to focus on only one or perhaps a few occupations, so…
[T]here exists a dearth of empirical research investigating the impact of obesity across varying occupational groups. Such research is critical, as excess weight may be associated with differing degrees of burden depending on profession and job responsibilities.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Obesity and Presenteeism: The Impact of Body Mass Index on Workplace Productivity,” Academia.edu, 2008
Source: “A longitudinal exploration of the relationship between obesity, and long term health condition with presenteeism in Australian workplaces, 2006-2018,” PLOS.org, 08/26/20
Source: “Impact of Obesity on Work Productivity in Different US Occupations: Analysis of the National Health and Wellness Survey 2014 to 2015,” NIH.gov, 2018
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