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SAFETY / OSHA / WORKERS' COMPENSATION — 5/21/07

Obesity increases risk of injury on the job

Having a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight or obese range increases the risk of traumatic workplace injury, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Injury Research and Policy, as reported by newswise.com. Their study was published on May 7, 2007, by the American Journal of Epidemiology.

BMI is a measure of body fat based on an adult’s height and weight. It is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems. According to the CDC, a BMI below 18.5 is considered underweight, 18.5 to 24.9 is normal; 25 to 29.9 is overweight and over 30 is obese. Of the 7,690 workers included in the study, 29 percent were injured at least once between January 2, 2002, and December 31, 2004. Approximately 85 percent of the injured workers were classified as overweight or obese.

We know that obesity prevention policies and programs in the workplace are important simply because of likely improvements in employee health, said Keshia M. Pollack, the Leon S. Robertson Faculty Development Chair in Injury Prevention. She also noted that it is not known if obesity prevention in the workplace will also have the added benefit of improving injury rates and reducing lost work time. Evaluations of worksite health promotion and obesity prevention efforts should measure changes not only in employee health, but also traumatic injury, she suggested. The researchers say that more work will be needed to test the effectiveness for reducing weight among hourly (non-office) employees who face a number of barriers to participating in worksite physical activity programs, such as the need to remove protective clothing for midday exercise and a lack of time because of additional employment or home responsibilities.

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