Women who work long hours outside the home are at increased risk of weight gain, according to a new study.
Researchers at Monash University in Australia analyzed the weight gain among nearly 10,000 women aged 45-50, using 1996-1998 statistics from the Australian Longitudinal Study. During the two years surveyed, 55 percent of the women gained weight. The average weight gain was 1.5 percent, but other subjects gained more. Women who were not in the work force or who were unemployed gained less weight.
The researchers attributed the weight gain to a lack of healthy habits because of working long hours. The women who gained weight ate poorly and got less exercise and less sleep--all risk factors for obesity-- than those who weren’t working outside the home. Women working long hours were also likelier to smoke and drink alcohol.
Lead researcher Nicole Au said that policies that reduce the time women work outside the home could help them have better health habits.
The study was published in the “International Journal of Obesity.”
