Obese persons, according to the study, are more prone to illness and hence perform fewer tasks at work.
The fat that surrounds the liver, pancreas, intestines and other critical organs in the abdomen is called visceral body fat. Subcutaneous fat is the name for the fat that is stored under the skin. A bariatric surgeon at Mumbai's Saifee Hospital named Dr. Aparna Govil Bhasker claims that central obesity is more common in Indians. The average Indian pedestrian will be slim all over save for a pronounced paunch. This is sometimes referred to as android obesity or an apple-shaped physique. An independent predictor of risk factors for illnesses including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and other elements of the metabolic syndrome is excess abdomen or visceral fat.
A research presented at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois, and funded by the industry, suggested that persons with obesity may be less productive at work due to an increased risk of illness, which would increase costs for businesses.
About 42% of Americans struggle with obesity, making it a serious public health problem. Employees who are overweight or obese have a higher risk of developing weight-related comorbidities such type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, all of which reduce productivity at work.
According to Clare J. Lee, M.D., of Eli Lilly & Company in Indianapolis, Indiana, "Employees with overweight and obesity may have a higher loss of work productivity as measured by absenteeism, short and long-term disability, and worker's compensation compared to employees with normal weight."
"Given the substantial burden of overweight and obesity on employee health and function that was demonstrated by this study," co-author Shraddha Shinde, M.B.A., of Eli Lilly & Company, added, "employers should focus on building tailored interventions that could be beneficial in improving the health of these individuals."
In the MarketScan databases, the researchers compared 719,482 employees who were obese and those who weren't. They discovered that those who are overweight or obese had greater rates of employment loss, hours/days missed from work, and expenses related to lost productivity. With each increasing Body Mass Index (BMI) category, the loss of labour productivity grew.
The expenses of absenteeism, short- and long-term impairment, and worker's compensation were $891, $623, $41, and $112 greater for obese persons than for people of normal weight, according to the study.