Obese Individuals Have Low Endurance Level: Study

Obesity can hamper individuals from giving their best at work, finds a study.

Recently, experts at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg found obesity can impede work productivity and efficiency in employees. They say people with excess body weight have less tenacity to handle work pressure and finish tasks before time than their peers with normal body weight. Their study involved 32 participants who were divided into four groups- young subjects with normal body weight, young obese subjects, non-obese older participants and those who were both obese and old. The researchers tested the participants' endurance levels by giving them three tasks that required hand grip, intermittent shoulder elevation and stimulated assembly operation with intervals in between.

"Our findings indicated that on average, approximately 40 percent shorter endurance times were found in the obese group, with the largest differences in the hand grip and simulated assembly tasks. During those tasks, individuals in the obese group also exhibited greater declines in task performance, though this difference was only evident among females," said Lora A. Cavuoto, study author and assistant professor in the department of industrial and systems engineering at  University at Buffalo in New York.

Obesity restricts blood flow to muscles thereby cutting supply of oxygen and energy in sufficient levels. Physical exertion and doing activities continuously can cause muscle fatigue and slow down performance. This is why overweight individuals get tired much sooner than those with healthy body weight.

The incidence of obesity increased by two-fold within the last 30 years along with health care costs, prevalence of related conditions, cases of workplace injury and number of lost workdays. The authors believe these findings are essential in understanding the dangers of injuries obese staff are exposed to in work environment.

"Workers who are obese may need longer rest breaks to return to their initial state of muscle function. Based on the increased fatigue found among workers who are obese, workplace designers may need to consider adding fixtures and supports to minimize the amount of time that body mass segments need to be supported. We believe our results will help to develop more inclusive ergonomic guidelines," said Cavuoto

More information is available online in the Journal of Occupation and Environmental Hygiene.