Employees who are obese might have a greater loss of productivity at work: Study

The study states that people with obesity are prone to sickness, and hence are less productive at work.

According to an industry-supported study at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society's annual conference in Chicago, Ill, people with obesity may be less productive at work owing to an increased risk of sickness, which would raise expenditures for companies.

Visceral body fat, is the fat that gets stored inside the belly and surrounds all the vital organs like liver, pancreas, intestines etc. The fat stored underneath the skin is known as subcutaneous fat. “As Indians, we have an increased tendency to have central obesity”, says Dr. Aparna Govil Bhasker, a bariatric surgeon at Mumbai's Saifee Hospital. A typical Indian person walking on the road will be thin all over except for a protruding paunch. This is also known as apple shaped body or android obesity. Excess abdominal fat or visceral fat is an independent predictor of risk factors for diseases like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and other components of the metabolic syndrome. (Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash)

Obesity is a significant public health issue affecting approximately 42% of people in the United States. Employees with overweight or obesity are more likely to develop weight-related comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, which all contribute to lower work productivity.

"Employees with overweight and obesity may have a higher loss of work productivity as measured by absenteeism, short and long-term disability, and worker's compensation compared to employees with normal weight," said Clare J. Lee, M.D., of Eli Lilly & Company in Indianapolis, Ind.

Co-author Shraddha Shinde M.B.A, also of Eli Lilly & Company, added that, "Given the substantial burden of overweight and obesity on employee health and function that was demonstrated by this study, employers should focus on building tailored interventions that could be beneficial in improving the health of these individuals."

The researchers evaluated 719,482 employees with and without obesity in the MarketScan databases. They determined the percentage of employees with work loss, the number of hours/days lost from work, and costs associated with productivity loss were higher among people with overweight or obesity. The loss of work productivity was greater with each higher Body Mass Index (BMI) category.

The researchers found costs associated with absenteeism, short and long-term disability, and worker's compensation were $891, $623, $41, and $112 higher per year (respectively) for people with obesity compared to those with normal weight.