Precarious work associated with high BMI

A study from the University of Illinois Chicago links precarious work with increases in body mass index. The study adds to a growing body of evidence that precarious work may contribute to poor health outcomes. The UIC scientists who wrote the paper defined precarious work as an accumulation of -unfavorable facets of employment,- such as low wages, insecure employment contracts, irregular hours and lack of union representation. -Over the last few decades, there has been an increase in the number of Americans engaging in precarious work - we see this with the rise of the -gig- economy or the number of people working for ride-share companies, for example. With millions of Americans now engaging in precarious work, we need to pay closer attention to the health impacts of type of employment, - said study author Vanessa Oddo, assistant professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences. To understand the impact of precarious work on BMI, the researchers analyzed 20 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth adult cohort (1996-2016). The average age of the participants was 44.