Abstract
Introduction. The causes, risks, and clinical significance of obesity among workers with heavy workload require further study. Objective. To study the risks and clinical significance of obesity in the Arctic underground miners.
Materials and Methods. We analyzed the results of an in-depth periodic medical examination of 845 miners in underground mines on the Kola Peninsula. During statistical processing, we used the following criteria: Student's t-test, Pearson’s chi-squared test, approximation (R2), Pearson correlation, relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results. Of 845 underground miners in the Russian Arctic, 149 (17.6%) were obese and 365 (43.2%) had excess body mass. Compared with normal mass and excess mass miners, obese miners were older (p=0.004–0.007), had longer employment period (p=0.007–<0.001), and had a higher number of diseases diagnosed per worker (p=0.002–0.001). A higher risk of obesity was observed in females (RR=1,91; CI 1,28–2,86) and in miners with work severity class 3.1 compared with work severity class 3.2 (RR=1,41; CI 1,00 – 1,97). The progression of body mass disorders was closely associated with the increase in age (R2=0.939) and employment period (R2=0.863) of miners. The most pronounced changes were observed at the age of 25 – 44 and with the employment period of 6 – 10 years. In obese individuals, the risk of developing circulatory and endocrine diseases was higher than in individuals with both normal (RR=1.94; 1.41 – 2.68 and RR=4.32; 1.70 – 10.96) and excess (RR=1.91; CI 1.41 –2.61 and RR=2.99; CI 1.37 – 6.52) body mass. The risk of musculoskeletal diseases also increased compared to individuals with normal body mass (RR=1.15; 1.01 – 1.32).
Conclusion. Energy consumption in modern technologies for mining ore raw materials in the Arctic requires changes to the traditional diet of miners to prevent the development of alimentary obesity.
Keywords: underground miners, working conditions, nutrition, excess body mass, obesity risks, health risks
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