Energy expenditure in office workers with identified health risks

Abstract

Over the past two decades there have been significant changes in employer attitudes towards promotion of workplace health, wellness and physical fitness. 4 There is much evidence to support the economic and other benefits of worksite wellness programmes. 1,2,26,30 The benefits of these programmes include, among other spin-offs, improved productivity and worker morale, and reduction in absenteeism and staff turnover.The prevalence of chronic diseases in the workplace has escalated to a large extent as a result of poor lifestyle habits. 10,27,29 To effectively intervene, knowledge of lifestyle and factors affecting health must be known, e.g. physical activity levels, risk factors for chronic diseases, nutritional patterns and levels of stress. The monitoring of activity levels and total energy expenditure (TEE) of daily activities has become more important in order to have an impact on chronic disease prevention and management. 18Physical activity measurement is not only health promotional in that it creates awareness for individuals involved in exercise programmes, but is also prescriptive in terms of quantifying the required exercise 'dose'. 13 Physical activity is therefore one of the cornerstones of any lifestyle management programme; however, the measurement of energy expenditure and physical activity levels has not always being accurate or objective. Such measurement has become much easier with a recently developed device for the assessment of TEE and physical activity levels (Body Media SenseWear Pro Armband®). The accuracy of the device has been confirmed and corroborated by Jakicic et al. 16 and Malavolti et al. 21,22 With advances in the standardisation of surveillance methodology and the introduction of more objective measures of physical activity energy expenditure and inactivity, 36 the relationships between physical activity, inactivity, fitness and the prevalence of chronic diseases have become better understood. 5,6,9,35 The study presented here was designed to accurately measure the components of, and contributors to, daily energy expenditure in a cohort of corporate white-collar workers who had previously been orIgInal research arTIcle energy expenditure in office workers with identified health risks abstract objective. To measure the daily energy expenditure in employees previously identified as having ≥2 risk factors for chronic disease, and to identify potential risk-reducing interventions for implementation within or outside the workplace. Design.A total of 122 employees with ≥2 risk factors for chronic disease identified in an in-house screening programme were invited to participate in a 6-month health management programme. Physical assessments included anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol estimations, and bicycle ergometry. Participants were invited to wear a 'metabolic armband' (Body Media SenseWear Pro Armband®) for 6 days. Metabolic measures included active and total energy expenditure (AEE, TEE), and daily MET levels (metabolic equivalents expressed...

The Impact of the Nutrition Situations and Physical Activities of Academicians on Anthropometric Measurements and Blood Parameters

“…Since people who work at a desk spend the majority of their time as sitting and have a lack of physical activity because of this situation, these people face the risk of obesity. 17,18 In research conducted on 130 employees who work at a desk, it was determined that the BMI values of the women in this group were higher than those of women in general at a meaningful level. 26 In our study, we focused on volunteer subjects who work as academicians at the university who we evaluated as employees working at a desk.…”

“…As a result, they are at risk of obesity. 16,17,18 In addition, obese employees are at a higher risk of diseases and thus are not as efficient as the employees who are not obese. 19 Those who work as academicians at the university are, by definition, desk workers since they deal with long, complex research activities that are necessary for a successful academic career; they use computers and spend their work time at their desk.…”

The investigation of the relationship between physical activity levels and obesity of academic staff at Nigde Omer Halisdemir University

“…Doğru bir beslenme programı ile fiziksel aktivitenin artırılması obezitenin önlenmesi ve sağlıklı bir yaşam için son derece önemlidir (Erdoğan, Certel & Güvenç, 2011). Fakat masa başı işlerle uğraşan kişilerin günlerinin büyük bir çoğunluğunu oturarak geçirmesi ve bu durumun neden olduğu fiziksel aktivite azlığı bu kişileri obezite riski ile karşı karşıya bırakmaktadır (Levine ve diğerleri, 2005;Coopoo, Constantinou & Rothberg, 2008). Literatürde masabaşı işlerle uğraşan kişilerin obezite ve fiziksel aktivite seviyelerinin incelendiği çalışmalar bulunmaktadır.…”