A new review has found that working long hours, greater than 55 hours a week, may increase the risk for type 2 diabetes:
Long working hours, socioeconomic status, and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of published and unpublished data from 222 120 individuals, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 25 September 2014
The link was only apparent in people of lower socioeconomic status.
“Individuals who worked 55 hours or more per week had an almost 30% increased risk of developing diabetes than did those who worked 35—40 hours per week. This association was robust to adjustments for age, sex, BMI, and lifestyle factors, such as leisure-time physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption. It also remained after shift workers were excluded from the analysis.”
The authors give these possible reasons for an increased risk:
- Working long hours might be a marker of other risk factors such as low pay, financial constraints, and personal hardships.
- Working long hours might displace other health-restorative behaviors, particularly sleep, time to rest, and time to engage in physical activity and social interactions.
- Working long hours may have a deleterious effect on personal growth, fulfillment, and happiness. This link, they say, may be tenuous since you should see it in workers of high socioeconomic status too.
Working fewer hours may not be an option. The lead author, Mika Kivimäki, a professor of epidemiology at University College London, said:
My recommendation for people who wish to decrease the risk of Type 2 diabetes applies both to individuals who work long hours and those who work standard hours: Eat and drink healthfully, exercise, avoid overweight, keep blood glucose and lipid levels within the normal range, and do not smoke.