A new study out of the University of London suggests that individuals who work more than 55 hours a week are at an elevated risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.
Researchers published their findings after reviewing work data and medical records of more than 220,000 men and women from multiple countries.
According to researchers, individuals who worked manual labor or in a low socioeconomic status job for more than 55 hours a week were 30 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes.
“The pooling of all available studies on this topic allowed us to investigate the association between working hours and diabetes risk with greater precision than has been previously possible,” said, Mika Kivimaki, a professor of epidemiology who worked on the study. “Although working long hours is unlikely to increase diabetes risk in everyone, health professionals should be aware that it is associated with a significantly increased risk in people doing low socioeconomic status jobs.”
Study authors said the 30 percent increase was present even after accounting for other health factors like physical activity, age and if the person was a smoker. Despite the findings, researchers stopped short of finding a reason as to why the long work hours can lead to diabetes.
Dr. Silverman comments
It’s interesting that manual labor jobs were included on this list, because physical activity is one of the pillars of health. It would be worth it to conduct a follow up study to try to hammer out a causal reason to the increased risk.
Off the top of my head I’d like to think a poor diet likely plays a big role. I’d venture to guess that people who work 55 hours a week are more inclined to stop for fast food or microwave an unhealthy option once they get home because they don’t want to put in the effort of creating a healthy meal after a long day at work. They also may spend less time preparing healthy lunch options to bring to work simply because they are strapped for time.
Eating right can be difficult, especially if you work long hours and have other obligations. That said, if you want to keep your diabetes risk in check, eat a proper diet.
Related source: Fox News