Heavy pressure at work seems to make women more prone to weight gain, regardless of whether they have a college education. This is shown in a study of more than 3800 people in Sweden. The women and men in the study were examined three times over a 20-year period regarding variables such as body weight and demands and control at work. They were followed from the age of 30 to 50 or from 40 to 60.
To estimate the level of work demands, respondents were asked about their work pace, psychological pressure, whether there was sufficient time for their tasks, and how often the demands were contradictory. The job control questions related to things like how often they learned something new; whether the work required imagination or advanced skills; and whether the respondent has personally been able to choose what to do and how to do it.
The results show that the respondents with a low degree of control in their work were more likely to gain a lot of weight over the course of the study, defined as a weight gain of 10 percent or more. This was true for both women and men.
Long-term exposure to high work demands, on the other hand, only played a role in women. In just over half of the high-demand women, significant weight gain has occurred in the past twenty years. This weight gain was about 20 percent higher than in low-job women.
“When it came to the level of demands at work, only the women were affected. We haven't explored the underlying causes, but it could also be a combination of work demands and the increased responsibility for the home that women often take on. This can make it difficult to find time to exercise and live a healthy life,” the researcher says.
Having or not having an academic education does not explain the associations in the study. Not even the quality of the diet or other lifestyle factors. However, the information on dietary intake comes from the respondents themselves, with a certain risk of misreporting.
At the same time, given the issues associated with work-related stress, the study is relevant in terms of public health. The researchers believe that identifying stress-prone groups and making efforts to reduce work-related stress is likely to result in not only a reduction in weight gain, but also a reduction in health problems, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. /P>
