The number of U.S. workers who self-describe as overweight is increasing, and more employees blame at least part of their girth expansion on their jobs.
A CareerBuilder annual survey on employee weight, which got input from more than 3,000 workers, found that 57 percent of those surveyed said they were overweight. That's up from 55 percent last year, despite the massive media attention that's been paid to the subject.
Further, 42 percent said they've put on the pounds on their current job, compared to 39 percent the previous year. And more than one in five reported gaining more than 10 pounds in the last year. Only 16 percent said they'd lost weight.
Many cited the stress of the job as triggering overeating and other bad habits that can lead to greater girth.
“Meaning, workers with extremely high on-the-job stress are 49 percent more likely to say they're overweight than workers with extremely low stress,” CareerBuilder reported.
“The health of a company's workforce is a paramount issue for many employers, as neglecting it can significantly dampen workplace morale and productivity,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “There's a clear incentive to make wellness and work-life balance a focus of organizational culture, and we're encouraged to see many companies making them a priority year-after-year.”
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
