Your Job Can Influence Your Heart Health



You job and career can influence your level of risk for heart disease and stroke, according to a new study.

Middle-aged people who work in food service, office jobs, or sales jobs have more risk factors for heart disease than people in managerial or professional jobs.

Firefighters, police, health care support workers, and truckers are all more likely to have these markers, the researchers said.

Individuals who are older than 45 and who are in office or sales jobs are more likely to eat an unhealthy diet, smoke, be sedentary, and struggle with high blood pressure.

People in food service tended to have the worst diets, while truckers tended to have the highest smoking rates.

People employed under the "service" umbrella were much less likely to have ideal cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as a lower incidence of healthy BMI.

This heart risk profile is poor, and it was especially pronounced and frequent among protective service workers, which encompasses police, firefighters, and security guards.

To draw these conclusions, the researchers examined health data for more than 5,500 women and men over age 45 to assess heart health. They based the assessment on the American Heart Association's "Life's Simple 7," which include diet, BMI, smoking, physical activity, blood sugar, and cholesterol.

More than 88 percent of employees over the age of 45 did not smoke, and 78 percent of employees we healthy blood sugar levels. However, less than 41 percent had ideal heart health in the remaining five areas.

More than 20 percent of the transportation workers smoked; this was the highest rate among occupation groups in the study.

Two-thirds of sales and office workers had poor cholesterol levels and eating habits, and 80 percent were sedentary. Ninety percent of security guards, firefighters, and police were overweight or obese, and seventy five percent had poor blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Researchers found generally poor cardiovascular health in lower-paying jobs, compared to high-paying jobs.

The nature of the job can create challenges to being healthy. For example, people with desk jobs tend to have trouble getting enough active time.


To combat these challenges on the job, try taking a walk after lunch each day, meal prep your food for the week, or look into a stand-up desk.