day-to-day job
could influence your risk of heart disease and stroke, a
new study reports. Middle-aged employees working in
sales, office or food service jobs
appear to have more risk factors that
can harm heart health than people
with professional or managerial jobs,
according to the researchers. Police, firefighters, truckers and
health care support workers also are
more likely to have these risk
factors, said lead researcher Capt.
Leslie MacDonald, a senior scientist
in the U.S. Public Health Service. People 45 and older employed in
sales and office jobs more often
smoke, eat an unhealthy diet, are
sedentary and suffer from high blood
pressure, MacDonald said. Food service employees ate worse
than any other profession, while
truckers and other materials
transportation workers had the
highest smoking rates, the
investigators found. "Those employed among the broad
'service' occupations had a
significantly lower prevalence of ideal
cholesterol, lower ideal blood
pressure, and lower ideal body mass
index," MacDonald said. "This poor cardiovascular risk profile was
especially pronounced among
protective service workers, which
includes security guards, police and
firefighters." MacDonald and her colleagues
studied health data on over 5,500
men and women aged 45 or older,
assessing their heart health based on
a set of risk factors called "Life's
Simple 7" by the American Heart Association. The risk factors include blood
pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar,
physical activity, smoking, diet and
body mass index (BMI, a ratio based
on height and weight). Overall, more than 88 percent of
workers 45 and older did not smoke
and 78 percent had ideal blood sugar
levels, the researchers found. Unfortunately, fewer than 41 percent
of the workers had "ideal
cardiovascular health" in the
remaining five measures, and those
risk factors appear to vary depending
on profession. More than one of every five
transportation workers smoked -- the
highest rate among the occupation
groups studied. Two of three sales or office workers
had poor eating habits and bad
cholesterol levels, and four out of five
did not get enough exercise. Food service workers had the worst
eating habits of any profession, with
nearly four out of five reporting a
poor daily diet. Nine out of 10 police, firefighters,
security guards and other protective
service workers were overweight or
obese. Three-quarters had bad
cholesterol levels, and one-third had
high blood pressure. Managers and professionals had the
best heart health, based on their risk
factors. One-third had an ideal BMI;
three out of four were at least
moderately active; and only 6 percent
were smokers. However, 72 percent of finance
workers and white-collar
professionals with business jobs had
poor eating habits. These results support earlier findings
that have linked income and
education to heart health, said Dr.
Donald Lloyd-Jones, an American
Heart Association spokesman. "There tends to be generally poorer
cardiovascular health for those in
lower paying jobs, and better
cardiovascular health in those with
higher paying jobs," said Lloyd-
Jones, a professor of heart research at Northwestern University Feinberg
School of Medicine in Chicago. But the nature of a job itself also can
present specific challenges to heart
health, MacDonald and Lloyd-Jones
noted. For example, desk jobs can keep
people from getting enough physical
activity, and interfere with their ability
to eat healthy, the doctors said. Long
and irregular work hours, loud noise,
poor air quality, temperature extremes, work-related stress, job
insecurity and exposure to harmful
substances also can play a role. Workers don't have to take this lying
down, MacDonald said. Simple on-
the-job changes can improve heart
health, she suggested. "We crave simple carbohydrates
when fatigued and while under
pressure, but they do not provide
sustainable energy. So reach for
whole fruit or celery sticks in place of
pastry, chips or candy," she said. "Adding physical activity, like a
lunch-time walk, can also create
multiple benefits since it can help you
wind down, possibly improving sleep,
and reducing stress-related eating
and smoking," MacDonald added. Employers also can play a role in
protecting their workers, Lloyd-Jones
explained. "Because most of us spend at least
half of our waking day in an office,
we need to think about how we
engineer these offices so we have
good food choices and opportunities
to be active at work," he said. The study findings were scheduled
for presentation Tuesday at a
meeting of the American Heart
Association in Phoenix. Research
presented at meetings is considered
preliminary until published in a peer- reviewed medical journal. SOURCES: Capt. Leslie MacDonald,
Sc.D., senior scientist, U.S. Public
Health Service of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health; Donald Lloyd- Jones, M.D., professor of heart
research, Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine,
Chicago; March 1, 2016,
presentation, American Heart
Association meeting, Phoenix, Ariz.
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