Trucker is most obese occupation

03/02/2014

Truck drivers, transportation, cleaning, police, firefighters and emergency responders are the most overweight workers in the US state of Washington.

Dr David K. Bonauto (Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention Program at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries) and his colleagues analysed the data of 37,626 people employed in the state.

Their study found that 39% of truckers were obese, followed by 38% of those working in transporting and moving material.

33% of police, firefighters and emergency responders; 30% of cleaning/building-service employees; 29% of mechanics and repair workers; 28% of administrative and clerical personnel; 25% of salespeople, and 24% of executives and managers also came in as grossly overweight

The common denominator appears to be jobs where workers are on their backsides for most of the day.

Occupations with lower obesity risk were: doctors, dentists and vets (12%); scientists (17%); and teachers (18%).

The findings have been  published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.