Nearly 31% Goa IT Workers Battle Hypertension, 40% Overweight

Approximately 31 percent of the IT sector workforce in Goa suffer from hypertension, whereas over 40 percent are either overweight or obese, reveals a new study.

"A majority of the 118 surveyed employee 63 (53.4 percent) had normal range body mass index, seven (5.9 percent) were underweight, 40 (33.9 percent) overweight, six (5.1 percent) class I obesity and two (1.7 percent) class II obesity," the study by Preksha P Vernekar, Kalyani and Jagadish A Cacodcar said.

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‘Introduction to stress-busting modules in the IT workspace can ensure the better physical and mental health of staff, which in turn may improve the performance of the workforce. ’

"Thirty-seven (31.4 percent) had hypertension, 50 (42.4 percent) suffered from pre-hypertension... 13 (11.2 percent) had diabetes mellitus and three (2.5 percent) blood sugar in the pre-diabetic range," the study noted.

"A significant prevalence of lifestyle diseases is noticed among the participants in the study. Lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and overweight/obesity are major risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease," as per the study published in the Epidemiology International journal.

Considerable pre-hypertension cases raised concern over possible cardiovascular morbidities along with complications in due course of time, the research paper’s authors pointed out.

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The study data were collected from health records of 118 IT professionals working in four top Information Technology firms in Goa, whose government is pitching the coastal state as a destination for IT start-ups.

The study authors, all medical professionals working at the state’s top government-run medical facility, also underlined the need for periodic health checkups to ensure timely detection and early management of health problems.

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"The companies should have mandatory periodic health checkups of their employees, preferably at their health centers, to gain better insight into their general health status.

"Pre-placement examination of employees is must to know their working capacity so as to ensure ergonomics as well as to procure first-hand knowledge on health problems workers may be suffering from before employment," the study recommended.

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"Health education on a diet, physical activity, and relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation can be imparted to employees. These steps will finally improve their performance and, in turn, lead to decreased incidence of morbidities, absenteeism due to sickness and job stress, thereby leading to optimum work output," the study said.

Source-IANS