A Research Review of The Relationship Between Job Enrichment and Abdominal Obesity: A Longitudinal Field Study of Apparently Healthy Individuals & A Starting Point for the Gap in Seeing Obesity as a Eating and Mental Disorder
Obesity is something that American’s are struggling to deal with, and are hearing about on a regular basis in today’s world. From obesity in the media, both health and appearance oriented, to the growing concerns about how this epidemic is affecting our society, research is consistently figuring out the many ways obesity is affecting us. Another area of concern is the occupational world; from union groups, to occupational therapists, there is a focus towards acquiring a balance between optimal production, and taking care of the health of employees that make that production happen. This paper will review one of the studies that look at combining these two areas of research, employee health and job design (Fried, Y. et al, 2013); more specifically, Fried, Y. and colleagues (2013) focus on five particular aspects of job design, and how those core characteristics (Hackman & Oldham, 1980) affect employee stress levels in the form of abdominal obesity. This review also provides a starting point, towards seeing if there is a gap in the research that has been done on the various etiologies of obesity.
Fried, Y. and colleagues (2013) certainly did their research in order to cover the many variables, measurements, and the design of their study. Here is some of the research found to support their studies focus (Fried, et al, 2013). Several studies indicate that there is a connection between employee health, and how demanding or stressful their jobs are; that the stress level can be similarly...
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We need to acknowledge that our methods to control overweight and obesity may commence, but must not conclude with individual accountability. Only a number of diseases require a general approach, other than the effort to hold and decrease the levels of overweight and obesity, and in few places are the stakes higher. Employers seem to have accepted this and are attempting to develop programs to address it.
In the American culture, obesity is seen as a bodily abnormality and deviance that should be corrected. Obesity has indeed become one of the most stigmatizing bodily characteristics in our culture (Brink, 1994). In the Western culture, thinness does not just mean the size of the body, but it is associated with such qualities as being healthy, attractive and in control. In contrast, a fat body is viewed as a sign of poor health, inefficiency and lack of personal will (e.g. Kissling, 1991; Ogden, 1992; Cooper, 1998). Resent research has shown that the social stigma associated with obesity can have serious consequences for an obese individual via discrimination in central fields of life such as education, health care, and employment. In relation to gender, the stigma associated with been obese is not the same for men and women. Research has clearly shown that obesity is more stigmatizing for women and obese women are discriminated against more than men because of their weight (Puhl & Brownell, 2001).
Interest in the social aspects of obesity is nothing new. Jeffrey Sobal has written extensively about the social and psychological consequences of obesity , including the stigmatisation and discrimination of obese and even overweight individuals (Sobal 2004).
Obesity is a growing concern in Canada and due to the increased time spent in one’s place of employment, there is an augmented importance placed on healthy living in the workplace. In 2004, approximately 6.8 million Canadian adults between the ages of 20 and 64 were overweight, and an additional 4.5 million were obese as recorded by the Canadian Policy Research Networks (Pierre, N., Pollack, N., & Fafard, P. 2007), further emphasizing the need to reduce obesity rates and to improve overall health. This demographic represents primarily the working population, which is the target population in respect to promoting active living in the workplace. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the “impact of the obesity epidemic on non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer threatens to overwhelm health systems; the need for prevention and control is clear” (ECOSOC/UNESCWA/WHO, 2009)
This is an essay written in the MIT Sloan Management Review that presents the correlation between businesses and the issue of obesity in order to persuade businesses to take action in regards to preventing the issue. Therefore, its target audience is anyone who currently works in business or plans to do so in the future. In this review, the author begins by citing four internal and external reasons for which businesses should care about obesity: self-preservation, public criticism, employee productivity, and opportunity. The author proceeds by providing an idea as to how businesses can assist in reversing the trend. In order to do so, he analyzes what he considers to be the two sides of the obesity problem: physical activity and food consumption.
"Obesity." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
As a health care professional it is our position statement that obesity should be considered as a disease. Overweight and obese adults are considered at risk for developing diseases such as type II diabetes, hypertension, high blood cholesterol, coronary heart disease, and certain type of cancers. An average of 300,000 deaths is associated with obesity and the total economic cost of obesity in U.S. was about $ 117 billion in 2000. As health care professionals it is our responsibility to increase public awareness of health consequences of over weight and obesity. Obesity as a disease: Obesity fits all the definitions of ‘disease’, that is, interruption in bodily function.
Food stamps are not the only solution available; for example, a person can decide to find multiple jobs to supplement their income. However, with multiple jobs come other obesity triggering factors. Multiple jobs increase a person’s stress level which in turn ra...
Ryan, D. & Watson, R. (2004). A healthier future; Workplace stress is increasingly recognized as a contributing factor to employee absence and illness. Investors in Health (IIH) is one response to the problem. Occupational Health, July 3, 2004, p. 20. Retrieved on October 21, 2004 from InfoTrac OneFile Database.
Tatiana Adreyeba, director of economic initiatives at the Rudd Center, agrees with the Huffington Post in that obese workers can be less productive than “healthy” workers; this last webpage mentions that overweight workers miss 450 million more days each year than their colleagues, costing businesses $153 billion annually in lost
We live in a lazy nation and one that suffers from many health related issues associated with obesity. “Obesity is a national health crisis…”(Freedman 1). People are not very understanding of the effects of obesity. “ Health risks of obesity… cardiovascular disease, asthma, high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, uterine an...
Occupational stress is strongly associated with health complains more than financial or family problems. Psychological demanding jobs that allow the workers little control on the process of work increase risks of cardiovascular disease, job stress also increases the risk of back and upper musculoskeletal disorders. The article shows that the employees who have high stress levels have a substantial health service utilization.
Everyday, there are workers who come home from their jobs with a high amount of health issues. Headaches, aching muscles, exhaustion, and many more health issues have workers wondering why this is happening. All of these symptoms can be linked to stress in the workplace. Job stress has become more of a problem than ever before. Numerous studies show that job stress is the major source of stress for American adults and that it has escalated progressively over the past few decades (“Workplace Stress,” 2004). Stress has become more common and costly in the workplace not only for the workers, but also the companies. What is considered stress in the workplace? Many companies everyday are dealing with issues related to stress in the workplace. For example, the Blackpool Fylde and Wyre NSH Trust Foundation Hospital noticed there were issues with stress when people began calling out sick. Their consultant for occupational health began to see a pattern of worker stress that might be the case. With stress being such a big issue in the workplace, are there ways a company can decrease the amount of stress?