Abstract
Background
Obesity and overweight have become major public health issues in the 21st century, with the prevalence tripling over the past forty years. Within ageing labour markets increasing numbers of overweight and obese workers may further impact workforce participation. The current study aims to investigate the association between overweight/obesity and work functioning, with a particular focus on workers 45 years and older.
Methods
Cross-sectional data of the Lifelines Cohort Study, a population-based study in the Northern part of the Netherlands was used. Work functioning, an outcome reflecting the perceived difficulties in meeting work demands in percentages of working time, was measured using the validated Work Role Functioning Questionnaire 2.0 (score: 0-100). Overweight and obesity were defined as BMI 25-30 and ≥ 30, respectively. Height and weight were measured during participants’ visit to the research centre on average 1.77 years prior to the measurement of work functioning. Linear regression models were used to investigate the associations between obesity/overweight and work functioning, adjusted for age, sex, job category, smoking status, average drinks per day and multimorbidity.
Results
The mean (SD) work functioning of the study sample (n = 25,628, mean age 53.2 (5.2) years, 54% female) was 86.4 (17.7), indicating that on average older workers have difficulties meeting work demands 13.6% of the time. Of the older workers, 46% were overweight and 17% were obese. A negative association between overweight (-0.73, 95% CI: -1.3, -0.12) and obesity (-1.9, 95% CI: -2.7, -1.0) and work functioning was found. The largest impact of overweight and obesity was observed on the physical work demands with -1.3 (95% CI: -2.0, -0.59) and -3.3, (95% CI: -4.3, -2.3), respectively.
Conclusions
Obesity and overweight are associated with lower work functioning in the ageing workforce. However, the small effect sizes suggest that the impact is limited.
Key messages
• Traditional BMI cutoffs for overweight and obesity are associated with lower work functioning in the ageing workforce.
• However, the effect sizes are rather small, suggesting that overweight and obesity have limited impact on work functioning.