Is your job killing you? Study says men in danger, women safe

Your job may be putting your life in danger, says a recent study. However, it is the men who are unsafe.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers from the VU University Medical Center, men who have highly physical jobs have a much higher risk of dying early when compared to those who have mostly desk jobs.

Physical activity has normally been considered as a significant preventive behaviour for non-communicable diseases while physical inactivity has been responsible for about 7% of the global health burden. In fact, a study says that those with desk jobs, who sit all day at work, could be slowly killing themselves. It also stated that these negative effects could be overcome by moving around and being active, which leads to an increase in one’s metabolic rate.

“Sitting is bad for our health, but it is a big part of daily life for many people,” said Craig Horswill, an expert in exercise and metabolism in UIC’s (University of Illinois at Chicago) College of Applied Health Sciences. “Exercise is a good way to counteract the negative effects of sitting, but just incorporating physical activity into one part of our day may not be enough to overcome the damage caused by prolonged sitting and an otherwise sedentary lifestyle,” he added.

New research suggests that there is a physical activity paradox, with fruitful health outcomes being connected with a leisure-time physical activity, but negative health effects for those in jobs which require them to be highly physical.

An international team of researchers led by Pieter Coenen carried out a on evidence linking occupational physical activity and all-cause mortality. They rounded up 17 studies with regards to this matter from which they pooled data on 193,696 participants.

The research showed that men that have a high level of physical activity associated with their jobs has an 18% higher chance of early death compared to those who’s jobs had low levels of physical activity. However, this connection was not noticed in women.

The researchers concluded, “The results of this review indicate detrimental health consequences associated with high level occupational physical activity in men, even when adjusting for relevant factors (such as leisure time physical activity). This evidence indicates that physical activity guidelines should differentiate between occupational and leisure time physical activity.”

The study appears in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

With inputs from ANI

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