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Research on the Influence of Working Hours on Obesity of Urban Workers in China

Received: 21 October 2020    Accepted: 30 October 2020    Published: 9 November 2020
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Abstract

Background: China's obesity rate has grown "explosively" in the past few decades, and overtime work has become the norm for urban workers in China. It is of great significance to investigate the influence of working hours on obesity in order to prevent obesity and regulate the labor market. Methods: Based on the 2018 China Family Panel Studies, this paper first uses the logit regression method to investigate the effect of working hours on obesity of urban workers in China, and then uses the intermediary effect model to investigate the intermediary effect of weekly exercise time and sleep time. Finally, heterogeneity was analyzed for different gender and income groups. Results: (1) Urban workers who work more than 40 hours a week are more likely to be obese than those who work less than 40 hours a week. (2) The Mediator Model found that: in the conduction mechanism of working hours affecting obesity, week exercise time (less than 30 minutes per day) and sleep time (less than 8 hours per working day) both serve as a mediator, and the mediating effect of exercise time is greater than that of sleep time. That means, working more than 40 hours a week cannot only directly increase the risk of obesity among urban workers, but also indirectly increase their risk of obesity by reducing their exercise time and working-day sleep time. (3) A heterogeneity regression analysis found that, compared with urban workers who work less than 40 hours a week, working more than 40 hours a week has a greater impact on obesity among women and low-income groups. Conclusions: The above studies show that, obesity as a complex multifactorial disease, not only genetic, dietary and environmental factors should be taken into account, but also employee week work hours should be considered as a potential risk factor.

Published in American Journal of Health Research (Volume 8, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajhr.20200806.12
Page(s) 102-107
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Working Hours, Obesity, Mediator Model, Chinese Adult Workers

References
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[6] Brown, T., Avenell, A., Edmunds, L. D., Moore, H., Whittaker, V. and L. Avery. (2009). Systematic review of long-term lifestyle interventions to prevent weight gain and morbidity in adults. Obesity Reviews, 10 (6): 627-638.
[7] Hebden, L., Chey, T. and M. Alman-Farinelli. (2012). Lifestyle intervention for preventing weight gain in young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs. Obesity Reviews, 13 (8): 692-710.
[8] Amin, V., Dunn, P. and T. Spector. (2018). Does education attenuate the genetic risk of obesity? Evidence from U.K. Twins. Economics and Human Biology, 31 (9): 200-208.
[9] Ameye, H. and J. Swinnen. (2019). Obesity, income and gender: The changing global relationship. Global Food Security, 23 (9): 267-281.
[10] Caruso, C. C., Bushell, T., Eggerth, D., Heitmann, A., Kojola, B., Newman, K., Rosa, R. and S. L. Sauter. (2006). Long working hours, safety, and health: toward a national research agenda. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 49 (11): 930-942.
[11] Van, H. M. (2003). Long workhours and health. Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health, 29 (3): 171-188.
[12] Magee, C. A., Caputi, P. and D. C. Iverson. (2010). Short sleep mediates the association between long work hours and increased body mass index. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 34 (2): 83-91.
[13] Marianna, V., Jane, E. F., Archana, S. M., Martin, J. S., Jussi, V., Michael, G. M. and K. Mika. (2010). Overtime work and incident coronary heart disease: the Whitehall II prospective cohort study. European Heart Journal, 31 (14): 1737-1744.
[14] Zhou, M. Haidong W., Xinying, Z., Peng, Y., Jun, Z. and Wanqing, C. (2019). Mortality, morbidity, and risk factors in China and its provinces, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017. Lancet, 394 (10204): 1145-1158.
[15] Jens, B. (2015). Trends in short and long sleep in Denmark from 1964 to 2009, and the associations with employment, SES (socioeconomic status) and BMI. Sleep Medicine, 16 (3): 385-390.
[16] Böckerman, P., Viinikainen, J., Laura, P. R., and C. Hakulinen. (2017). Does higher education protect against obesity? Evidence using mendelian randomization. Preventive Medicine, 101 (8): 195-198.
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    Shulei Ding, Cuihua Liu. (2020). Research on the Influence of Working Hours on Obesity of Urban Workers in China. American Journal of Health Research, 8(6), 102-107. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20200806.12

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    ACS Style

    Shulei Ding; Cuihua Liu. Research on the Influence of Working Hours on Obesity of Urban Workers in China. Am. J. Health Res. 2020, 8(6), 102-107. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20200806.12

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    AMA Style

    Shulei Ding, Cuihua Liu. Research on the Influence of Working Hours on Obesity of Urban Workers in China. Am J Health Res. 2020;8(6):102-107. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20200806.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20200806.12,
      author = {Shulei Ding and Cuihua Liu},
      title = {Research on the Influence of Working Hours on Obesity of Urban Workers in China},
      journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
      volume = {8},
      number = {6},
      pages = {102-107},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20200806.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20200806.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20200806.12},
      abstract = {Background: China's obesity rate has grown "explosively" in the past few decades, and overtime work has become the norm for urban workers in China. It is of great significance to investigate the influence of working hours on obesity in order to prevent obesity and regulate the labor market. Methods: Based on the 2018 China Family Panel Studies, this paper first uses the logit regression method to investigate the effect of working hours on obesity of urban workers in China, and then uses the intermediary effect model to investigate the intermediary effect of weekly exercise time and sleep time. Finally, heterogeneity was analyzed for different gender and income groups. Results: (1) Urban workers who work more than 40 hours a week are more likely to be obese than those who work less than 40 hours a week. (2) The Mediator Model found that: in the conduction mechanism of working hours affecting obesity, week exercise time (less than 30 minutes per day) and sleep time (less than 8 hours per working day) both serve as a mediator, and the mediating effect of exercise time is greater than that of sleep time. That means, working more than 40 hours a week cannot only directly increase the risk of obesity among urban workers, but also indirectly increase their risk of obesity by reducing their exercise time and working-day sleep time. (3) A heterogeneity regression analysis found that, compared with urban workers who work less than 40 hours a week, working more than 40 hours a week has a greater impact on obesity among women and low-income groups. Conclusions: The above studies show that, obesity as a complex multifactorial disease, not only genetic, dietary and environmental factors should be taken into account, but also employee week work hours should be considered as a potential risk factor.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AU  - Shulei Ding
    AU  - Cuihua Liu
    Y1  - 2020/11/09
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajhr.20200806.12
    T2  - American Journal of Health Research
    JF  - American Journal of Health Research
    JO  - American Journal of Health Research
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    AB  - Background: China's obesity rate has grown "explosively" in the past few decades, and overtime work has become the norm for urban workers in China. It is of great significance to investigate the influence of working hours on obesity in order to prevent obesity and regulate the labor market. Methods: Based on the 2018 China Family Panel Studies, this paper first uses the logit regression method to investigate the effect of working hours on obesity of urban workers in China, and then uses the intermediary effect model to investigate the intermediary effect of weekly exercise time and sleep time. Finally, heterogeneity was analyzed for different gender and income groups. Results: (1) Urban workers who work more than 40 hours a week are more likely to be obese than those who work less than 40 hours a week. (2) The Mediator Model found that: in the conduction mechanism of working hours affecting obesity, week exercise time (less than 30 minutes per day) and sleep time (less than 8 hours per working day) both serve as a mediator, and the mediating effect of exercise time is greater than that of sleep time. That means, working more than 40 hours a week cannot only directly increase the risk of obesity among urban workers, but also indirectly increase their risk of obesity by reducing their exercise time and working-day sleep time. (3) A heterogeneity regression analysis found that, compared with urban workers who work less than 40 hours a week, working more than 40 hours a week has a greater impact on obesity among women and low-income groups. Conclusions: The above studies show that, obesity as a complex multifactorial disease, not only genetic, dietary and environmental factors should be taken into account, but also employee week work hours should be considered as a potential risk factor.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 6
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Author Information
  • Department of Political Economy, Business School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

  • Department of Political Economy, Business School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

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