Are you worried about losing your job. Well, I don’t want to alarm you, but people who are concerned about their job security have a higher likelihood than people who do not fret about their employment status.
Compared to people who felt confident about their job status, people who were experiencing so-called job insecurity had a 19 percent higher rate of new cases of diabetes, which researchers called a “modest increased risk.”
A study by the University of Bristol and the University College London compiled data from 19 studies involving a total of 140,825 adults in the U.S., Australia and Europe. All were employed and diabetes free when they enrolled in the case studies.
At the beginning of the study, participants were asked if they experience anxiety about losing their jobs. From six to 40 percent of respondents said yes. Over the next 10 years, the annual rate of new diabetes cases in the study ranged from 9 to 85 participants for every 10,000 participants.
When researchers analysed the studies with focusing on factors other than age and sex that might influence a person’s risk, job insecurity was still linked to a 12 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with diabetes.
Past studies have already noted how job insecurity is linked with higher body mass index (BMI) and an increased risk of heart attacks and deaths related to heart problems.
Lead author Jane Ferrie noted that job-related stress can cause people to overeat and overindulge in other unhealthy behaviors while stress hormones, caused by job insecurity can directly promote weight gain which could also contribute to increased risk for diabetes.
Ferrie also contends that the study can’t prove that job insecurity causes diabetes but then added: “In an ideal world, the sort of thing I’d like to see come out of this study is a reduction in job insecurity and an increase in secure job contracts and reasonable wages.”
Edwin Torres, of Montefiore Health System in New York City, noted how important it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle even your feeling stressed about your employment situation. “If you lose your job or have job insecurity, make sure you’re exercising.”
