Stress on the Job Leads to Fat on the Body
Chronic stress on the job can have powerful negative effects on both mind and body, but a new University of Rochester Medical Center study has found that stress and weight gain are strongly linked.
Lead study author Diana Fernandez, who specializes on how and why diseases occur in different groups of people, says she and other researchers interviewed 2,782 employees of a large manufacturing plant in upstate New York.
She says a common theme soon developed: After spending the day sitting in stressful meetings or at their computers, workers looked forward to going home and “vegging out” in front of their TVs. And while doing so, they were gobbling unhealthy snacks high in fat and calories.
The researchers also found that at times when layoffs were occurring, the snacks highest in fat and calories were the most popular ones purchased from workplace vending machines.
Many of the workers interviewed for the study said they didn’t take the time to eat properly at lunch, or to go for a walk, because they feared they might get into trouble for being away from their desks for too long.
“In a poor economy, companies should take care of the people who survive layoffs and end up staying in stresses jobs. It is important to focus on strengthening wellness programs to provide good nutrition, ways to deal with job demands and more opportunities for physical activity that are built into the regular workday without penalty,” says Fernandez.
Intense work pressures and feelings of minimal control on the job are associated with heart disease and strokes, diabetes, depression, exhaustion, anxiety and weight gain.
The researchers found that 72 to 75 percent of the employees they interviewed were either over weight or obese. More than 65 percent of the study participants admitted to watching two or more hours of television daily.
Among workers who reported watching two to three hours of TV daily, 77 percent were more likely to be overweight or obese and those who watched four or more hours were 150 percent more likely to be obese than those watching two or fewer hours.
If you are stressed and noticed you have been putting on weight, stay away from the candy and chip vending machine and take a walk during your break.
Read MoreTen-Hour Workdays Hard on Your Ticker
A study of 10,000 civil servants in the United Kingdom between 1991 and 2004 found that people working 10 hours a day are more likely to have heart problems than their counterparts who work shorter hours.
The study, reported in the European Heart Journal, followed each participant during an average 11-year period to see how often they worked more than seven hours per day and also looked at their overall state of health.
The results were not encouraging. People who had worked a significant number of 10-hour days were 60 percent more likely to have been diagnosed with heart problems than people who called it a workday after seven hours.
Within the group there were nearly 400 people who either died from heart-related problems, survived heart attacks or suffered angina (chest pain).
However, working up to nine hours per day did not seem to significantly increase the likelihood of heart problems. A team of researchers led by Dr. Marianna Virtanen, who works at both University College London and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, controlled the study for the effects of smoking, high cholesterol, carrying excessive weight and other cardiac risk factors.
Virtanen says it’s possible that people working longer hours have riskier lifestyles and may have more aggressive, competitive and tense personalities. They also tend to be more likely to suffer depression, anxiety and sleep deprivation.
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You Have to Learn About Stress Before You Can Manage It
While stress has a strongly negative connotation, in small doses, it can be a powerful motivator. The problem, according to the University of Montreal’s Centre for Studies on Human Stress, is that repeated exposure to situations that cause our bodies to produce stress hormones may have negative effects on people’s mental and physical health.
“There are two kinds of stress. Acute stress is a normal part of everyday life and helps our stress response system stay on the ball,” according to the Centre for Studies on Human Stress. “Problems arise when we are repeatedly exposed to the same stressor or many different stressors for an extended period of time.”
Chronic stress is linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, adult onset diabetes and depression. The centre says that in someone who has a family history of these conditions, or has unhealthy lifestyle habits, chronic stress can bring on these health problems.
According to the centre, stress results from specific events or situations that involve novelty (something new to a person), unpredictability (the person has no way of knowing it will occur), threatening to the person’s ego (your competence as a person is called into question) and a feeling that you have little control over what’s happening.
Managing stress starts with recognizing the signs that you are responding to a stressor—a pounding heart, sweating, feeling flushed and experiencing anger or feeling on edge.
While starting to meditate or engaging in deep breathing exercises in the middle of a stress-inducing meeting probably isn’t appropriate, the centre says that people can learn to dampen the release of stress hormones by fooling their stress response system. This involves thinking about something positive.
“If you are faced with a stressful situation, then momentarily bring to mind an image, a moment, an event or anything you find pleasant and soothing.”
For example, if you get a terse message to be in the boss’s office in 10 minutes and feel your heart starting to pound, calm yourself by imaging the look on your child’s face when she saw her first birthday cake, or mentally place yourself at a favorite fishing or wave-watching spot.
Take some deep breaths as you let the pleasant image wash over you. Sometimes taking a quick walk around the block can also help you deal with stress and be able to look at a problem in a calmer, more positive way.
Read MoreViolence: Doing Nothing is Not an Option
A disgruntled former employee walked into a truck rental company near Atlanta in January 2010 and opened fire, killing three people and injuring two others. That same month, an employee of a St. Louis, MO, transformer manufacturing company shot eight people, killing three, before taking his own life.
And in Edmonton, AB, Canada, a car dealership employee who had been suspended for posting sexually explicit material on a company bulletin board returned to work in March 2010 and shot two co-workers, killing one, before fatally shooting himself.
These tragic cases show how random workplace violence can be. Suzanne Bogdan, an attorney with Fisher & Phillips LLP in Fort Lauderdale, FL, says employers are, by law, required to provide a safe workplace and that includes a workplace where workers do not feel threatened, verbally or otherwise.
“Many incidents are foreseeable and/or preventable. Recognizing a situation that may escalate and erupt into violence is often the key to stemming the violence,” she says.
According to Bogdan, the use of effective pre-employment documents (for example, reference letters, motor vehicle records, or criminal records) and thorough background checks can help potential employers understand certain temperaments and avoid hiring potentially violent workers. Background checks can uncover previous convictions, motor vehicle violations, lawsuits filed by a person, employment references, credit history, education records and other important information.
“Further, it is incumbent upon management to establish policies on workplace violence and to enforce them. A written zero-tolerance position on violence, threats or abusive language allows management to terminate anyone who violates the policies. Drug testing may also be a manner of pre-empting violence,” she says.
Workplace violence policies also need to include a procedure whereby threats or drug abuse can be reported anonymously.
“Supervisors should be trained in conflict resolution, stress management, managing change in the workplace and recognizing the early warning signs of violent employees,” says Bogdan. “For the safety of themselves and their colleagues, they must be sensitive to the fact that small issues can suddenly escalate into workplace problems.”
She adds that employees should also receive training regarding their responsibility to report threats or violence.
Bogdan also stresses the importance of establishing an employee assistance program, which can help employees who are having a difficult time dealing with issues in their personal lives.
“No one goes to work with an expectation of conflict, let alone violence. Sadly, however, even an office can be a place of risk. However, with proper policies in place, the risk of tragedy can be reduced,” she says.
Are their “loose cannons” in your workplace? Are they allowed to intimidate others without being challenged? Does your workplace even have an anti-violence/harassment policy in place? Is it being followed?
Info to go: Read more about workplace violence, including how you can prevent violence at your workplace, by clicking on the Info to Go safety links at www.SafeSupervisor.com
Read MoreMany Experience Email Apnea and its Negative Health Effects
Reading or writing emails can cause an increase in heart rate and anxiety, even if what we are reading or typing in itself isn’t making us anxious or angry.
Nearly everyone has heard of obstructive sleep apnea, where people temporarily stop breathing while sleeping, and partially awaken up to hundreds of times a night. The result is that they are left extremely fatigued upon awakening and throughout the day.
But have you heard of email apnea? It’s a term used by writer/consultant Linda Stone to describe breath-holding or shallow breathing that many people experience while reading or composing emails. Stone says she realized she was holding her breath while writing or reading emails and then observed many others doing the same thing.
It’s harmless, enough, right? Actually, it isn’t harmless. Stone contacted Dr. Margaret Chesney at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and learned that research conducted by Chesney and fellow NIH scientist, Dr. David Anderson, found breath holding contributes substantially to stress-related diseases by throwing off the body’s balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitric oxide.
Stone says breath-holding or shallow breathing also cause the body to become acidic and the kidneys to reabsorb sodium (salt).
The human body uses nitric oxide—not to be confused with nitrous oxide your dentist may give you—to fight viral, bacterial and parasitic infections and tumors. Nitric oxide is also involved in learning, memory, sleeping, feeling pain and likely, depression.
Other downsides of breath-holding/shallow breathing, writes Stone, include causing the liver to deposit glucose and cholesterol into the blood and one’s heart rate to speed up. The body’s fight or flight response is also triggered, but even though the body is tensed for action, the person is ignoring that response by sitting at the computer for long periods.
Stone speculates that breath-holding may cause weight gain and diabetes. If you spend a lot of time on the computer, learn and practice some deep breathing exercises (especially while reading or writing) and get up and take frequent walks throughout your shift. If you don’t have much freedom to get up, moving your legs and feet at your desk is still a form of exercise.
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