Effect of Obesity and Stress at Workplace Among Healthcare

Running Head: Effect of Obesity and Stress at Workplace Among Healthcare Workers Contributing to
Absenteeism
EFFECT OF OBESITY AND STRESS AT WORKPLACE
AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS CONTRIBUTING TO
ABSENTEEISM

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Effect of Obesity and Stress at Workplace Among Healthcare Workers Contributing to Absenteeism
Table of Contents
2. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
3. Literature review....................................................................................................................5
Reference list............................................................................................................................10

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Effect of Obesity and Stress at Workplace Among Healthcare Workers Contributing to Absenteeism
Research question is:
What is the impact of obesity on absenteeism of staff and how it affects the stress level
of healthcare worker?
2. Introduction
Obesity can be identified as a medical condition that occurs when excess body fat is
accumulated that creates an adverse impact on health. Different risk factors are associated
with this condition that includes cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure
(Theodore, McLean & TeMorenga, 2015). Moreover, obese person are also having high risk
of cancer. This problem is becoming predominant especially in urban setting. Absenteeism in
the workplace is a major impact of obesity, which was noticed in different previous studies. It
was found that major portion of absentees consumes improper diet and leads an unhealthy
lifestyle, which causes obesity (Fitzgerald, Kirby, Murphy & Geaney, 2016). In this research
it was proved that obesity and obesity related diseases like diabetes, stroke and heart failure
are some major causes of employee productivity loss in a workplace and absenteeism. The
problem of obesity increases the chance of absenteeism by 72%, which occurs due to high-
quality diet and low engagement in physical activity (Fitzgerald, Kirby, Murphy & Geaney,
2016).
New Zealand is considered as third highest adult obese country among OECD and
obesity rates is still rising here. It can be seen that 1 in 3 adults in this country and 1 in 10
children are obese. Furtur, 35% of adults in this country are overweight with high risk of
obesity. Moreover, it was seen that about 15% of maori children and 25% of pacific children
are suffering from obesity (Healthnavigator.org.nz, 2019). Moreover, high levels of stress
also causes different impacts like chest pains, low sleep rate, which contributes to

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Effect of Obesity and Stress at Workplace Among Healthcare Workers Contributing to Absenteeism
absenteeism (Healthnavigator.org.nz, 2019). Healthcare workers faces stress due to work
pressure, improper work environment and complicated patients.
Approximately 48% people of maori community are suffering from obesity and it is
affecting their daily lives (Health.govt.nz, 2019). On the other hand, more than 66% of
pacific people of NZ are dealing with this disease. Among the NZ population, more than 135
Asian people and near about 29% Europeans are obsessed. As mentioned by Theodore,
McLean & TeMorenga (2015), overweight is one of the main reasons behind loss of
productivity and absenteeism. Obsessed workforce includes people with certain diseases like
diabetes, cancer, heart disease and others. It is very obvious that this kind of people is unable
to perform well due to their physical problems. Hence, obsessed workforce leads to
absenteeism.
Many researchers have investigated the consequences of obesity and findings of these
searching indicate that obesity reduces the ability of a person to perform and it can cause
many harmful diseases. Obesity creates stress in people, which can reduce the ability to work
and concentrate. As stated by Fitzgerald et al. (2016), healthcare workers of NZ often face
issues due to lack of energy to work, higher stress levels and suffering from diseases.
However, the impact of obesity on business has not been evaluated. Due to this reason, this
study is focusing on investigating the relation between obesity and absenteeism of healthcare
workers.
In 1997, the government has measured that the number of deaths due to obesity was
approximately 3000, which was considered as 11% of total deaths in NZ (Foe.org.nz, 2020).
The NZ government has taken several initiatives for addressing the issue of obesity and
stress. Healthy Active learning, Eating and Activity guideline, Healthy Families NZ, Physical
activity guidelines, advising about stress management and other clinical guidelines have been
formed to deal with these issues (Health.govt.nz, 2019).