Low pay and long hour link to diabetes
Thursday September 25th, 2014
People who work for long hours in low status jobs face a significantly increased risk of developing diabetes, researchers warn today.
Working for more than 55 hours a week on manual work or menial jobs seems to increase the risk by 30%, according to the study in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
The findings apply to type 2 diabetes, which is often triggered by obesity and inactivity.
They may reflect the difficulty these people having getting access to exercise and healthy food - either because of lack of time or inability to pay for gyms and other high-intensity facilities.
The researchers say more work is needed to explain the link.
The findings come from an analysis of 23 studies of the subject in the USA, Europe, Japan and Australia, involving more than 222,000 men and women.
Researcher Professor Mika Kivimäki, of University College, London, UK, said: "Although working long hours is unlikely to increase diabetes risk in everyone, health professionals should be aware that it is associated with a significantly increased risk in people doing low socioeconomic status jobs."
Maureen Talbot, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “The study’s authors confirm more research into this finding is needed. Having diabetes increases someone’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke so reducing that risk is essential."
Long working hours, socioeconomic status, and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of published and unpublished data from 222120 individuals. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology 25 September 2014; doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(14)70178-0 [abstract]
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