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The physical strenuousness of work is slightly associated with an upward trend in the BMI

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  • Böckerman, Petri
  • Johansson, Edvard
  • Jousilahti, Pekka
  • Uutela, Antti

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the physical strenuousness of work and the BMI in Finland, using individual microdata at 5-year intervals over the period 1972-2002. Data came from the National FINRISK Study which contains self-reported information on the physical strenuousness of a respondent's occupation. Our estimates show that the changes in the physical strenuousness of work explain around 7% at most of the increase in BMI for Finnish males observed over a period of 30 years. The main reason for this appears to be the effect of the physical strenuousness of work on BMI which is rather moderate. According to the point estimates, BMI is 2.4% lower when a male's occupation is physically very demanding and involves lifting and carrying heavy objects compared with a sedentary job (reference group of the estimations), other things being equal. Furthermore, it is very difficult to associate the changes in the occupational structure with the upward trend in BMI for females, and the contribution of the changes in the occupational structure is definitely even smaller for females than it is for males. All in all, we show that the changes in self-reported occupation show a slight association with the changes in the logarithm of the BMI scores.

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  • Böckerman, Petri & Johansson, Edvard & Jousilahti, Pekka & Uutela, Antti, 2008. "The physical strenuousness of work is slightly associated with an upward trend in the BMI," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(6), pages 1346-1355, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:66:y:2008:i:6:p:1346-1355
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    Cited by:

    1. Mathilde Godard, 2017. "Gaining weight through retirement? Results from the SHARE survey," Working Papers halshs-01525000, HAL.
    2. Jay Teachman & Lucky Tedrow, 2013. "Veteran Status and Body Weight: A Longitudinal Fixed-Effects Approach," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(2), pages 199-220, April.
    3. Albarrán, Pedro & Hidalgo-Hidalgo, Marisa & Iturbe-Ormaetxe, Iñigo, 2020. "Education and adult health: Is there a causal effect?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    4. Kitae Sohn, 2014. "Job Strenuousness and Obesity: The Case of a Developing Country," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(9), pages 1289-1301, September.
    5. Archana Dang & Pushkar Maitra & Nidhiya Menon, 2018. "Labor Market Engagement and the Health of Working Adults: Evidence from India," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series dp-305, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    6. Dang, Archana & Maitra, Pushkar & Menon, Nidhiya, 2017. "Labor Market Engagement and the Health of Working Adults: Evidence from India," IZA Discussion Papers 11118, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. repec:dau:papers:123456789/11535 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Petri Böckerman & Edvard Johansson & Urpo Kiiskinen & Markku Heilövaara, 2010. "Does Physical Capacity Explain the Height Premium?," Working Papers 1074, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.
    9. Johansson, Edvard & Böckerman, Petri & Kiiskinen, Urpo & Heliövaara, Markku, 2009. "Obesity and labour market success in Finland: The difference between having a high BMI and being fat," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 36-45, March.
    10. Duncan, Roberto & Toledo, Patricia, 2019. "Inequality in body mass indices across countries: Evidence from convergence tests," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 40-57.
    11. Godard, Mathilde, 2016. "Gaining weight through retirement? Results from the SHARE survey," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 27-46.
    12. Mathilde Godard, 2015. "Gaining weight through retirement? Results from the SHARE survey," Post-Print halshs-01521884, HAL.
    13. Dang, Archana & Maitra, Pushkar & Menon, Nidhiya, 2019. "Labor market engagement and the body mass index of working adults: Evidence from India," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 58-77.

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