Obese professions
About 28 percent of U.S. workers are obese. But some professions are more obese than others.
At the top of the list of most obese is public administration with about 36 percent obese workers, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Jobs in utilities, health care and construction had high levels of obesity as well, according to the study.
The study analyzed data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey to determine weight, height, occupation and stress levels on the job.
The researchers discovered that among all workers, those who work more than 40 hours per week or worked in a hostile environment were significantly more likely to be obese.
Here are the top 10 industries with the highest numbers of obese workers, according to the study:
- Public administration – 36.3 percent
- Utilities – 34.1 percent
- Information – 33.1 percent
- Transportation and warehousing – 33.1 percent
- Health care and social assistance – 32 percent
- Manufacturing – 30.8 percent
- Construction – 29.8 percent
- Administrative – 29 percent
- Mining – 27.9 percent
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting – 26.4 percent
The industry with the lowest obesity rate is Real estate with 19.9 percent, followed by arts, entertain and recreation with 20.5 percent.
The study also looked at occupations such as education, food service and sales.
Among the occupations, protective services came in highest with 40.7 percent of workers obese, followed by community and social service (35.6 percent) and health care support (34.8 percent).
The least obese occupations were physical and social science (14.2 percent); art, entertainment, sports and media (20.1 percent); and health care practitioners (22 percent).
Marissa Harshman
I'm the health reporter for The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, Wash. I started at The Columbian -- my hometown newspaper -- in September 2009. Reach me at marissa.harshman@columbian.com or 360-735-4546.