Department of Economics, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Int J Public Health. 2012 Oct;57(5):807-15. doi: 10.1007/s00038-012-0348-y. Epub 2012 Feb 28.
This paper examines the effect of job stress, as measured by the job strain model (high job demands and low job control) on an individual's body mass index (BMI) using data from the Canadian National Population Health Survey.
We use panel data estimation methods to account for unobserved individual-level heterogeneity to better examine the relationship between job-related stress and BMI.
Results from the fixed effects and random effects models show no statistically significant difference in BMI levels between individuals in jobs with high/medium strain compared to jobs with low strain. However, in the cross-sectional OLS model, job stress has a positive and significant effect on BMI. These analyses control for socio-demographic factors, lifestyle behavior, workplace social support, occupational and provincial fixed effects. The results suggest that the mixed findings in the previous studies may in part be due to unobserved characteristics that cannot be controlled for using standard cross-sectional analysis.
This study results suggest the need for further longitudinal evidence in order to have a better understanding of the relationship between job stress and body weight.
本文使用加拿大全国人口健康调查的数据，通过工作压力模型（高工作要求和低工作控制）来考察工作压力对个体体重指数（BMI）的影响。
我们使用面板数据估计方法来考虑未观察到的个体水平异质性，以更好地检验工作相关压力与 BMI 之间的关系。
固定效应和随机效应模型的结果表明，与低压力工作相比，高/中压力工作个体的 BMI 水平没有统计学上的显著差异。然而，在横截面 OLS 模型中，工作压力对 BMI 有正向且显著的影响。这些分析控制了社会人口统计学因素、生活方式行为、工作场所社会支持、职业和省级固定效应。结果表明，先前研究中的混合结果可能部分归因于无法使用标准横截面分析控制的未观察到的特征。
本研究结果表明，需要进一步进行纵向研究，以更好地理解工作压力与体重之间的关系。
