Blue collar workers unhealthier

By RUTH HILL - The Dominion Post

One in four blue-collar workers is at risk of a heart attack or stroke within the next five years, a workplace survey has found.

The workplace wellness provider Vitality Works, which assessed almost 4300 workers nationwide, found most were overweight and unhealthy.

More than one in four - 28 per cent - of factory and field workers were in serious danger of a heart attack compared with only 10 per cent of those with desk jobs.

Vitality Works operations director Clara Soper said many people with physical jobs were too tired to exercise by the end of the day and tended to opt for fast food.

"Factory and field jobs tend to attract high Polynesian and Maori populations, low socio-economic groups and males - all of which are largely over-represented in the 'unhealthy' category."

Wellingtonians were the healthiest workers, with 37 per cent being a good weight and 75 per cent in the normal blood glucose range.

Dr Soper suggested one reason for this was the "walkability" of Wellington.

Overall, the findings had alarming implications for employers grappling with the recession and low productivity, she said.

Employers should be investing in staff wellbeing through exercise and healthy eating programmes, which would have a "positive effect on businesses' bottom line".

A Health Ministry report this month showed each long-term illness cost taxpayers more than $100 million per year.

The cost of type 2 diabetes alone is projected to rise from $600 million in 2006-07 to $1.3 billion a year by 2016-17.

Labour's health spokeswoman, Ruth Dyson, said the Government's decision to "gut" anti-obesity measures, such as Fruit in Schools and the Obesity Action Coalition, would cost taxpayers dearly in the long term.

"National has dumped reducing obesity as a health target, has cut nearly $5 million from the diabetes Let's Get Checked budget and clearly believes that peddling cream buns and pies in schools is perfectly acceptable."

Health Minister Tony Ryall said the previous government had put millions into trying to counter obesity problems but had made little progress.

"People don't want to be continually lectured on what they should or should not eat or feed their children.

"This Government advocates informed personal responsibility and greater balance between good nutrition and activity."

The ministry's chief clinical adviser, Sandy Dawson, said age, ethnicity and neighbourhood deprivation affected obesity rates.

"Whilst there are no specific initiatives targeted at the workforce, improving nutrition, increasing physical activity and reducing obesity are three of the 13 health priorities identified in the New Zealand Health Strategy."

THE FINDINGS

*  78 per cent of blue collar  workers were obese compared  with 63 per cent of office  workers.

* Otago and Southland workers were the least healthy with only 18 per cent in the healthy body weight range.

* Based on cholesterol, body mass index and blood sugar levels (a precursor of type 2 diabetes), men had three times the chance of having a heart attack or stroke than women.

* 77 per cent of men and 61 per cent of women were overweight, obese or morbidly obese.

'I FEEL LIKE A BIG WEIGHT HAS LIFTED'

Deborah Craig is half the woman  she used to be and all the better for it.

Like a quarter of New Zealand blue-collar workers, Ms Craig - a laser printer operator for Datamail - was once unfit, unhappy and unhealthy.

After weighing in around 100 kilograms for "many years" - she hit 120kg at one point - she decided to swap yo-yo dieting and piecemeal exercise for a more sustained effort, joining a gym and overhauling her diet of fatty fast foods. Now 66kg, she is nearly half her former weight and "toned and sporty".

There was no single trigger that prompted her to change her lifestyle, she said. "It was just an uncomfortable feeling in myself."

Her initial goal was to lose weight, but that gave way to a deeper mission. "I decided I want a decent, happy, healthy, long life."

The excess kilos had been replaced by a much more positive attitude.

"I've not only lost weight, I feel like a big weight has lifted.

"When you're healthy you're open to a lot more positive experiences."

Ms Craig, 38, said that, unlike some companies she had worked for, her current workplace was health- conscious.

"They're doing a weight-loss programme for everyone and have weigh-ins every two weeks and stuff."

Other workplaces should encourage similar programmes, she said.

"If you've got a happy, healthy person they're going to put out a whole lot more work."

Her advice for those wanting to lose weight was simple.

"Just get moving. And stop going to KFC."