Chelsea Lee
Medical Research Editor
WhereismyDoctor.com

Hard Working Women More Likely Overweight

July 25th, 2012

Women who work full-time, and especially those who work overtime, are becoming part of an unfortunate statistic.

A recent study shows that women between the ages of 45 and 50 who work over 49 hours a week tend to gain 1.9% of their weight on average in a two year time span.

One shocking fact in the study reads "Employed women had the greatest mean weight change (1.6 per cent), and the smallest mean weight loss among losers."

The study, which included 9000 women, tracked the weight of women who worked more than 49 hours a week as well as those who worked part-time.

This study was published in the International Journal of Obesity and reports that "These findings suggest that not working may have some protective effect against weight gain and may help promote weight loss."

The study itself suggests that the reason for these findings may be as simple as a lack of time, meaning that working women just don’t have the time to live a healthy lifestyle.

Nicole Au, lead author of the study, points out that "Working women are faced with so many different time pressures, which leaves them with less time to engage in physical activity and less time to prepare healthy meals."

The study also found a positive correlation between women who work long hours or very long hours and those who smoke, sleep less, drink excessively, and do not exercise.

Long hours was defined in the study as working between 41 and 48 hours, while 49 hours a week qualified as very long hours.

65% of women working long hours or very long hours were found to be excessive drinkers, while only 42% of women not in the workforce drank at risky levels.

It seems that working women, especially those working full-time jobs with demanding hours, have just had an extra task place on their to-do list, and that is to make time for a little more sleep, exercise, and healthy home-cooked meals.

If you struggle with obesity speak to a bariatric surgeon near you.