Two industrial cohorts: factors associated with obesity and cholesterol at baseline and follow-up

Among the many health conditions that impact the health of workers are obesity and elevated total cholesterol. Considering the well demonstrated impacts obesity and increased TC levels have on occupational injuries and illnesses, as well as obesity-related health care costs for employers, we aim to address the paucity of literature regarding production workers in this regard. This dissertation uses data from two, multicenter occupational cohorts of production workers to address the current status of these health factors in this population, factors associated with these conditions, and readiness of production workers to reduce weight and total cholesterol. The prevalence of obesity (50.2%) among production workers is greater than is reported for the U.S. adult population (35.7%), and is twice as high as a recently reported prevalence for U.S. workers (27.7%). Considering an even lower prevalence of 22.5% for obesity in the state of Utah, these production workers represent an important target population for weight loss interventions. Results showed that most of the reported associations with increases in weight and TC levels are amenable to interventions and may be a target for workplace intervention programs.