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【社会人文】研究发现肥胖工人在损伤要求上花
Study: Obese workers cost more in injury claims
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April 23, 2007
Overweight workers cost their bosses more in injury claims than their lean colleagues, suggests a study that found the heaviest employees had twice the rate of workers' compensation claims as their fit co-workers.
Obesity experts said they hope the study will convince employers to invest in programs to help fight obesity. One employment attorney warned companies that treating fat workers differently could lead to discrimination complaints.
Duke University researchers also found that the fattest workers had 13 times more lost workdays due to work-related injuries, and their medical claims for those injuries were seven times higher than their fit co-workers.
Overweight workers were more likely to have claims involving injuries to the back, wrist, arm, neck, shoulder, hip, knee and foot than other employees.
The findings were based on eight years of data from 11,728 people employed by Duke and its health system. Researchers found that workers with higher body mass indexes, or BMIs, had higher rates of workers' compensation claims.
The most obese workers -- those with BMIs of 40 or higher -- had the highest rates of claims and lost workdays. BMI is a measure of height and weight. A 6-foot, 300-pound person, for example, has a BMI of just over 40.
Study co-author Dr. Truls Ostbye said the findings should encourage employers to sponsor fitness programs.
''There are many promising programs,'' Ostbye said. ''We'd like to see more research about what is truly effective.''
James Hill, who heads the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado, said managers will pay attention to the findings because injuries mean more immediate financial losses than the future health-care costs of diabetes and heart disease.
''When you see that claims rates double, I think that's going to get people's attention,'' Hill said.
But there isn't enough good information about employer-sponsored programs that work, said John Cawley, an expert in the economics of obesity at Cornell University. Employers don't know whether paying for nutrition counseling, obesity surgery or anti-obesity drugs through health insurance makes economic sense, he said.
''It's now apparent to everybody that obesity is a big problem,'' Cawley said. ''But the research isn't there to know where to get biggest bang for the buck.''
Cawley noted that BMI does not distinguish muscle from fat and can equate a buff body builder to a couch potato. Although BMI, a measure of height and weight, is used in most obesity research, Cawley's research has found that blacks are particularly likely to be misclassified as obese by BMI.
New York employment attorney Richard Corenthal cautioned employers not to overreact with discriminatory policies.
''Employers need to be careful not to view this study as a green light to treat obese or overweight workers differently,'' Corenthal said.
The study, appearing in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, got funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. AP 本人已认领该文编译，48小时后若未提交译文，请其他战友自由认领。 本人已认领该文编译，48小时后若未提交译文，请其他战友自由认领。 研究发现肥胖工人在损伤要求上花费更多
2007-4-23
Overweight workers cost their bosses more in injury claims than their lean colleagues, suggests a study that found the heaviest employees had twice the rate of workers' compensation claims as their fit co-workers.
超重员工在受伤索赔上与其瘦同事相比要花他们老板更多的钱，一份研究报告称最重的员工的赔偿是健康工人赔偿几率的两倍。
Obesity experts said they hope the study will convince employers to invest in programs to help fight obesity. One employment attorney warned companies that treating fat workers differently could lead to discrimination complaints.
肥胖专家说他们希望这份研究能够说服经理们采取一些措施与肥胖做斗争。一个职业律师说，那些对肥胖工人采用不同待遇的公司将会遭歧视投诉。
Duke University researchers also found that the fattest workers had 13 times more lost workdays due to work-related injuries, and their medical claims for those injuries were seven times higher than their fit co-workers.
美国杜克大学的研究者们也发现那些肥胖的工人因工伤缺勤人时间是他们健康的同事的13倍，且医疗赔偿是他们的7倍还要高。
Overweight workers were more likely to have claims involving injuries to the back, wrist, arm, neck, shoulder, hip, knee and foot than other employees.
超重的员工比其他同事更可能要求赔偿，因背、手腕、胳膊、颈、肩、髋关节、膝盖和脚受伤。
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-06-22 05:12
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