Abstract
BackgroundThe treatment and prevention of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is currently one of the major challenges in medicine. The impact of working conditions on metabolic risk has not been adequately studied. Our objective was to compare the prevalence of MetS and metabolic risk in two extremely different occupational groups: firefighters and office workers.MethodsA total of 143 male subjects (97 firefighters and 46 office workers) from Germany participated in the study. Anthropometric characteristics, metabolic risk parameters as well as laboratory parameters were collected. MetS was diagnosed according to criteria of the International Diabetes Federation.ResultsSedentary occupation showed a significant tendency towards obesity. Abdominal waist circumference was significantly greater in office workers than in firefighters [5.08 CI (1.44–8.71), p = 0.007]. Concerning metabolic risk factors, abnormal HDL, triglycerides, BMI, blood pressure and waist circumference values were more frequently found in office workers than in firefighters. The MetS was detected in almost 33 % of office workers as compared with only 14 % in firefighters (p = 0.015). Regarding MetS in an international comparison, the prevalence of MetS in German office workers was high and in firefighters it was extremely low.ConclusionsSedentary occupation as an office worker is associated with a high risk of MetS. Both groups need to be made aware of the metabolic risks, and health promoting concepts such as corporate sports activities or education in healthy nutrition need to be implemented to counteract the development of the MetS and cardiovascular risk factors.
Highlights
The treatment and prevention of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is currently one of the major chal‐ lenges in medicine
Participating firefighters had an average age of 40.5 ± 9 years and office workers had an average age of 45.8 ± 10 years
In conclusion, our results demonstrate that firefighters have lower metabolic risk than office workers
Summary
The treatment and prevention of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is currently one of the major chal‐ lenges in medicine. Our objective was to compare the prevalence of MetS and metabolic risk in two extremely different occupational groups: firefighters and office workers. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is steadily rising in the Western world and its prevention and treatment is a major challenge in medicine. The MetS comprises a constellation of interrelated metabolic disorders, including hypertension, central obesity, dyslipidemia atherosclerosis and hyperglycemia, that are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease, leading to increased morbidity and mortality [4,5,6]. One and a half billion people worldwide are overweight and at least 400 million of them are obese [9]. Müller et al [10] estimated an average body mass index (BMI) of the German population in 2040 of up to 30 kg/m2
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