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ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To examine a possible relationship between obesity, job stress, and eating behavior in male Japanese workers. METHOD: A questionnaire on life style, job stress, and
eating behavior was conducted with 208 male workers aged 19–60 years (33.7±12.3 years) in a manufacturing industry in Japan. Height and weight were measured in an annual health examination.
The relation between obesity, job stress, and eating behavior were analyzed between 141 nonobese subjects (BMI ⩽24.9 kg/m2) and 67 obese subjects (BMI ⩾25.0 kg/m2). RESULTS: Obesity was
associated with psychological stress responses of tension/anxiety, especially tension. Tension/anxiety was also related to job demands positively and job latitudes negatively. The eating
behaviors of subjects with tension/anxiety resembled those of the obese subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that obese male Japanese workers tend to be in a stressful state
from high job demands and low job latitudes in the workplace. Such stressful conditions may affect eating behaviors to eat much and contribute to obesity. Stress management might be
necessary in the workplace for the prevention of obesity among male Japanese workers. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via
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Google Scholar Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was conducted with aid for the health promotion field from a medical research and health promotion activities grant for 2002
from the Aichi Health Promotion Foundation. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Nursing, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Daiko-minami, Higashi-ku,
Nagoya, Japan N Nishitani & H Sakakibara Authors * N Nishitani View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * H Sakakibara View author
publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to H Sakakibara. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS
ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Nishitani, N., Sakakibara, H. Relationship of obesity to job stress and eating behavior in male Japanese workers. _Int J Obes_ 30, 528–533 (2006).
https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803153 Download citation * Received: 13 April 2005 * Revised: 30 August 2005 * Accepted: 12 September 2005 * Published: 25 October 2005 * Issue Date: 01 March
2006 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803153 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link
is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * BMI * job stress * eating behavior * tension