Physical work life balance

Proposer: Andreas Holtermann, The National Reseach Center For The Working Environment, (DENMARK), E-mail: aho@nrcwe.dk

Session Type: Symposium

Chairs: Charlotte Diana Nørregaard Rasmussen, & Mette Korshøj

Brief Description: Factors in the psychosocial working environment are known to influence lifestyle outside work, like smoking, eating habits and leisure time physical activity.  Overweight, smoking, poor diet and sedentary behavior during leisure time are reported to be overrepresented among manual workers. This is generally considered to be caused by their low socio-economic status and short education.  Our hypothesis is that factors in the physical work environment also impose a significant impact on health behavior during leisure time. This may be explained by exhaustion, fatigue and pain following several hours of physically demanding work, leaving less mental and physical energy to engage in health improving physical activities, preparing healthy food, or resist/stop smoking. The purpose of this symposium is to present studies and generate discussions on the proposed hypothesis. 

1. The interplay between physical activity at work and leisure - importance for health

Andreas Holtermann, The National Research Centre for The Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark, (e-mail: aho@nrcwe.dk)

2. Physical activity patterns in workers with neck pain assessed using accelerometry and GPS

David M. Hallmann, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Gävle, Sweden, (e-mail: David.Hallman@hig.se)

3. Is cleaning so fatiguing that it influences leisure time physical activity?

Mette Korshøj, The National Research Centre for The Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark, (e-mail: mkl@nrcwe.dk)

4. Does physical activity at work impact physical activity behaviour in leisure time?

Marie Birk Jørgensen, The National Research Centre for The Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark, (e-mail: mbj@nrcwe.dk)

5. Physical work demands, health behaviors and sickness absence in the BELSTRESS cohorts

Els Clays, Ghent University, Department of Public Health, University Hospital, Belgium ,(e-mail: )

6. Associations between physically demanding work and life-style – Results from the Swedish WOLF-study.

Eleonor Fransson ,Jönköping University, Sweden ,(e-mail: eleonor.fransson@hhj.hj.se)